Heart Disease and Stroke

May 30, 2007

More than 277 Medicines in Testing for Heart Disease and Stroke 

A new report by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) finds that biopharmaceutical researchers are testing 277 medicines for two of the three leading causes of death of Americans – heart disease and stroke. The medicines are currently in clinical trials or under review by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Click here to see full report.)

The report notes that according to the National Center for Health Statistics, heart disease has topped the list of killer diseases every year but one since 1900. (The exception was 1918, when an influenza epidemic killed more than 450,000 Americans.) Stroke is the third leading cause of death. According to the American Heart Association, every 36 seconds, an American dies of cardiovascular disease, and nearly 80 million Americans have one or more types of cardiovascular disease. The cost of these diseases to American society is more than $430 billion a year.

Due in large part to new drug treatments, death rates from heart disease and stroke are falling, states the new report. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), if death rates were the same as those of 30 years ago, 815,000 more Americans would die of heart disease annually and 250,000 more would die of strokes. Much of the progress is due to the development of effective medicines to control both blood pressure and cholesterol, according to officials at the NHLBI. In addition, treatment of heart attacks has vastly improved. Twenty-five years ago, the treatment for heart attacks was simply bed rest. Today, doctors have medicines that can stop a heart attack in mid-stream as well as other high-tech treatments. 

For related information on innovation.org: Video: Meet the researchers behind Zetia®, a breakthrough cholesterol treatment. Charts: View statistics on how new medicines are improving patient health and controlling health care costs. Inside R&D: Learn how new drugs are being developed. The Story of Zetia®: Read how researchers worked together to discover the first breakthrough treatment for cholesterol in over twenty years. Heart Disease and Stroke Links: Find links to additional organizations and tips related to heart disease and stroke.

According to the report, the medicines in development include 30 for heart failure, which kills more than 50,000 Americans a year; 31 for high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for both heart disease and stroke; 19 for heart attacks, which strike more than 800,000 Americans a year; and 19 for stroke, which afflicts about 700,000 American each year. Many of the potential medicines use cutting-edge technologies and new scientific approaches. For example:

• Human stem cells that may restore cardiac function by forming new heart muscle.
• A new anticoagulant that regulates clot formation to prevent stroke in atrial fibrillation. 
• A vaccine that may be able to promote “good” cholesterol by preventing the transfer of “good” cholesterol to “bad” cholesterol.

Selected Medicines in Development for Heart Disease and Stroke¹ 

Reducing Heart Attack Deaths – Each year, 157,000 Americans die of heart attacks. A new medicine in development offers hope of reducing that statistic. It’s a monoclonal antibody that targets the proteins that injure the heart after an attack. In clinical trials, the medicine reduced heart attack deaths.

 

Restoring Heart Function – More than 5.2 million Americans are living with congestive heart failure. Heart failure is a progressive deterioration of the heart muscle. A new treatment in development delivers human stem cells (myoblasts) to form new heart muscle to restore cardiac function to the patient’s heart.

 

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension – A progressive and potentially life-threatening condition that involves high blood pressure and structural changes in the walls of the pulmonary arteries, the blood vessels that connect the heart to the lungs. The condition, which causes shortness of breath, limits activity and shortens life-expectancy. A new medicine in development may be able to reduce these effects. An oral endothelin A receptor antagonist is designed to block a protein involved in constricting blood vessels and increasing pressure on the pulmonary arteries.

 

Preventing Strokes – Two million Americans suffer from atrial fibrillation, in which the two small upper chambers of the heart quiver instead of beating effectively. Blood in these quivering chambers can clot, travel to an artery in the brain and cause a stroke. About 15 percent of strokes in the U.S. occur in people with atrial fibrillation. A new medicine in development is designed to prevent strokes in people with this condition. It is an oral, direct Factor Xa inhibitor (an anticoagulant that limits blood clotting) that acts at the central point in the coagulation cascade, to regulate thrombin generation, which leads to clot formation.

 

Managing Cholesterol – Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good”, cholesterol are thought to put patients at risk of coronary artery disease and heart attacks. A new vaccine in development is designed to prevent the transfer of “good” cholesterol to “bad” low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, thus keeping “good” cholesterol levels high. The vaccine stimulates the body to produce antibodies to a protein responsible for the transfer process between HDL and LDL cholesterol.

 

¹All disease facts from the American Heart Association.