Abbott study disappoints hearts

Abbott study disappoints hearts

The pharma giant, Abbott Laboratories, presented a mixed bag of findings from a much expectant ongoing research regarding two drugs pertaining to treatment of heart attacks, at the American Heart Association's conference on Nov 14.

The study called FIELD or Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes, was aimed at ascertaining if timely administration of fenofibrate could stall heart attacks or disorders in diabetic patients. People with diabetes of type 2 are more prone to heart disease than non-diabetics.

The study was lead by Anthony Keech from Sydney Medical School. The results were partially disappointing, as far as prevention of deaths in heart attacks was concerned. The study findings can be found in the leading medical publication Lancet.

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Fenofibrate or TriCor, is known for its effectiveness in lowering triglycerides in the bloodstream, found heavily in type 2 diabetics. During the study, the drug was seen to improve numerous symptoms in diabetic patients, but was quite ineffective in actually lessening fatal heart attacks, the mainstay of the research.

However, the drug's use did reduce need of angioplasty, bypass operations or retinal surgery. It was fairly concluded that TriCor was truly effective in preventing damage to blood vessels, corroborated by the statistics of a 24% fall in non-fatal heart attacks.

Similarly, in the study of levosimendan or Simdax, the symptomatic improvements in patients were seen to be higher but the number of death cases was not controllable. The human heart suffers a failure when its pumping action becomes weaker and compels fluid built up in the lungs. Normally, this condition is treated by intravenous medicines, but the success rate is only half. Levosimendan helps in stabilizing the calcium levels in the heart's cells, and hence affecting contractions.

In a study of two groups, the death rate was similar, but researches claim that the stabilization brought about by levosimendan brought down medical expenses drastically. However, a suggestive streak in the study indicated that levosimendan might increase risk of death in six months.

The researchers were of unanimous opinion that continuous analysis was required before some conclusive results could be achieved.

For Abbott Laboratories, the study was a highly prestigious project. The news of the damp results brought down the company's share value by 7 percent. Abbott manufactures levosimendan for Fournier Pharma but only markets fenofibrate. Representative Ilke Arici revealed that the pharma major is in the process of discussing the levosimendan findings with the FDA, before the final approval.