Failed Glaxo Heart Drug may Hold Benefits for Heart Disease

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)'s new heart drug failed the mail goal of a phase III study. However, there's still hope that the product could benefit patients in the future.

Findings showed that the drug illustrated promising signs of potential benefits for heart disease.

"I'm convinced there is a signal here of efficacy and the drug is safe," said Dr. Harvey White, co-chair of the international study, via Reuters. 

The trial of the drug included 15,828 participants who were followed for a median time of 3.7 years. Findings showed that 9.7 percent of those who took the Glaxo drug suffered from major adverse events compared to 10.4 percent in the control, placebo group.

A lack of any impact for stroke prevention appears to be the reason behind partial study failure.

"If in the second study you see effects on the cardiovascular end points, this is still a potentially useful drug for patients with heart disease," said Murray Stewart, Glaxo's head of Metabolic Pathways Cardiovascular Therapy Area, via Reuters. "The main thing will be the next study."

"We're setting a very high bar and we may have affected our ability to (determine) a treatment effect," added White, director of the coronary care unit at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand, via Reuters.

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More information regarding the findings were presented Sunday at the American College of Cardiology scientific meeting in Washington.