Announcing new data from its REDUCE-IT study, Ireland-based biotech Amarin Corporation (NASDAQ:AMRN) said Friday that its fish-oil-derived pill Vascepa caused a significant 40% reduction in a severe type of heart attack.
REDUCE-IT is AMRN's global
cardiovascular outcomes study that involved more than 8,100 adults with
elevated lipid levels and either established cardiovascular disease or
diabetes plus risk factors.
The patients were randomized to receive Vascepa (Vazkepa) or placebo over a median follow-up period of 4.9 years.
According
to the findings presented at a medical event in Spain, Vascepa, also
known as icosapent ethyl (IPE), has led to a significant 40% reduction
of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) compared to
placebo (HR=0.60; 95% CI 0.44, 0.81; P=0.0008). STEMI is a more severe
type of heart attack with a greater risk of serious complications and death.
IPE
is also found to have caused a 27% reduction in non-ST segment elevated
myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) (HR=0.73; 95% CI 0.60, 0.89; P=0.001) in
addition to clinically important and statistically significant
reductions in certain MI subtypes, the company said.
"Importantly,
these new data show a significant reduction in the most important type
of heart attack known as STEMI, as well as other MI subtypes," remarked
Deepak L. Bhatt, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and
the lead investigator of the study.