There was plenty of news generated over the weekend at the big European Society of Cardiology meeting in Barcelona. In addition to the headlines for Boehringer and AstraZeneca, above, Sanofi Aventis and other developers also unveiled some impressive achievements.
Among the top achievements:
Sanofi researchers say their blood-clot drug otamixaba was a noted success in Phase II, lowering the rate of death, second heart attacks and other complications for patients in the study. Five different doses for the drug were tested in the study, which included 3,241 patients.
In a study dubbed Jupiter, AstraZeneca said the cholesterol drug Crestor also reduced the risk of heart attacks and other conditions among apparently healthy elderly patients as well as a group of middle aged subjects. One subset of patients in the 70-plus group achieved a 39 percent risk reduction compared to placebo.
And shares of the Medicines Company were boosted by the news that its anti-clotting therapy Angiomax improved overall survival rates for patients who had received an angioplasty following a severe heart attack. Cardiac-related deaths were reduced by 43 percent.
- check out the Sanofi story from the Wall Street Journal
- here's the piece on Crestor
- read the story from Reuters on the Medicines Co.