Study: Pfizer drug may help decrease cardiovascular death, hospitalization

CHICAGO — A drug made by Pfizer may help decrease the risk of cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization in patients with chronic heart failure, according to a late-stage clinical study.

The “Emphasis-HF” study — funded by Pfizer, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Heart Association scientific sessions in Chicago — found that adding Inspra (eplerenone) to standard therapies reduced the risks compared with placebo.

“It is encouraging to see a clinical trial deliver results that are sufficiently strong to meet strict, pre-defined stopping criteria,” Faiez Zannad, study steering committee co-chairman and cardiologist at the University Hospital of the Henri Poincare University of Nancy, France, said in a statement. “Patients such as those enrolled in ‘Emphasis-HF’ typically have a poor prognosis, and today’s results should therefore provide real encouragement for doctors and patients alike.”