Pfizer announced results from a late-stage trial

showing that Inspra (eplerenone) significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular (CV) death or heart failure (HF) hospitalisation in patients with chronic HF experiencing mild symptoms compared with those receiving placebo.
 The company halted recruitment into the EMPHASIS-HF trial in May after an interim analysis indicated the study had met its main goal ahead of schedule.
The trial was expected to enrol 3100 patients with mild chronic systolic HF who were randomised to receive either Inspra or placebo, both in combination with standard therapy.
Results from 2737 patients presented at the American Heart Association meeting and published in the NEJM showed that after a mean follow-up of 21.2 months, 18.3 percent of patients who took Inspra died or were hospitalised for HF, compared with 25.9 percent given placebo, the company noted.
In addition, Pfizer's drug significantly reduced all-cause mortality, CV mortality, all-cause hospitalisation and hospitalisation due to HF, compared to placebo.
Inspra is currently approved to treat patients with moderate-to-severe HF. Mariell Jessup, chair of the AHA meeting's scientific programme, suggested that the new data should increase use of the drug.
 "When we are applying these therapies to less sick patients, we can prevent them from becoming severely debilitated," Jessup added.