Novo scraps two more heart drug trials, further dimming growth beyond obesity

By Patrick Wingrove

Sept 7 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk said on Monday it had halted two additional trials of its experimental cardiovascular drug ziltivekimab, further denting the Danish drugmaker's efforts to diversify beyond its blockbuster obesity and diabetes franchise.

In July, Novo said ziltivekimab failed to reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, including death, non-fatal heart attack and non-fatal stroke, compared with placebo in a late-stage trial.

On Monday, the Danish drugmaker said it had ended two additional studies of the drug in heart failure patients ahead of schedule, with each trial designed to evaluate a different clinical outcome.

Novo halted the studies after an independent data monitoring committee found a "low likelihood" that either study would yield a different result from the earlier failed trial, a company spokesperson said.

The setback comes after Novartis' experimental cardiovascular drug also failed in a late-stage trial to reduce the risk of death, heart attack and stroke, raising fresh questions about the inflammatory-disease hypothesis that underpinned development of both medicines.

Another trial testing ziltivekimab in patients recovering from a heart attack will continue as planned, with results expected in the first half of 2027, Novo said. 

(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove;Editing by Alison Williams)