Pelacarsen Full Data at AHA: Lp(a) Down, Events Not
- Novartis presented the full Lp(a)HORIZON results at the AHA meeting, with simultaneous NEJM publication. The antisense drug, licensed from Ionis, sharply lowered Lp(a) but did not reduce cardiovascular events versus placebo over nearly five years.
- The topline miss was disclosed in September; the full data leave the trial leader saying many in the field will be left scratching their heads.
💡 Points Based on public reports
This is the first large test of the Lp(a) hypothesis and it did not pay off, which hits the whole class: Amgen's olpasiran and Lilly's lepodisiran are running similar outcomes trials on the same premise. Two things to watch: whether the degree of Lp(a) lowering, not just direction, matters, and whether a subgroup with very high baseline Lp(a) tells a different story.
STAT+: Failure of Novartis Lp(a) drug raises questions about cardiovascular strategy ↗