http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/02/us-heart-novartis-serel...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/02/us-heart-novartis-serelaxin-idUSBRE9810B920130902

Old story I know but basically a potentially successful drug but nothing near C-Pulse.

Headline makes you go wow, read further and results are highly qualified and a bit mixed.

"Results from a Phase III study last November found it reduced deaths by 37 percent compared with placebo - and the latest data offers further insight by showing how it performed in different patient sub-groups."

THEN

"Novartis previously disclosed that while serelaxin met one of the study's two primary goals by reducing deaths and relieving dyspnea, it failed to hit a secondary combined objective of lowering cardiovascular death and reducing the need for patients to go back into hospitals."

Just see the potential for the C_Pulse story to take off.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryhusten/2014/01/24/european-setback-for-novartis-heart-failure-drug/

"The Committee noted that the study results did not demonstrate a benefit for short-term relief of dyspnoea over up to 24 hours, and although some benefit was shown over 5 days it was not clear how this was of clinical relevance. Furthermore, the Committee had concerns about the way the effectiveness of the medicine in the study had been analysed. The results included calculated values for a number of patients who had died or had required additional treatment for worsening symptoms and whose actual data were not used. In addition, the CHMP questioned whether differences in the background treatment given to patients in the two study groups may have influenced the results. Since only one main study was included in the application, further studies would be needed to confirm the effectiveness of Reasanz in the treatment of acute heart failure."

I applaude SSH managements real effort to avoid questionable hype.