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AstraZeneca’s New Lp(a) Candidate | Aortic Stenosis AI Breakthrough
October 10, 2024
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Together with
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“So when it comes to intermittent fasting, if it works for you then that means that it works.”
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Gregory Katz, MD’s precision take on the latest time-restricted eating trial.
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There’s so much that goes into building the solutions that providers use each week, and that’s definitely true for ECG monitoring. In this Cardiac Wire Show interview with Flipside Media’s president Brad Ummer, we get an insider’s view of what it takes to develop an ECG monitoring solution, including Flipside’s partnership with Monebo Technologies.
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AstraZeneca expanded its cardiovascular pipeline this week, signing an exclusive license agreement for CSPC Pharmaceutical Group’s Lp(a) disruptor candidate, YS2302018. The deal comes with a $100M upfront investment that could reach $1.92B depending on further milestones.
- YS2302018 is a small molecule Lipoprotein (a) disruptor intended to treat dyslipidemia patients by preventing the formation of excess blood lipids.
- The Lp(a) disruptor will become part of AstraZeneca’s cholesterol-reduction pipeline, as both a single agent and in combination with the company’s PCSK9 inhibitor (AZD0780).
- The licensing agreement puts AZ in direct competition with Eli Lilly’s Lp(a) disruptor, muvalaplin.
CSPC’s YS2302018 addresses a sizable target market, noting that nearly 70% of patients with CVD aren’t meeting guideline-directed LDL-C targets despite taking high-intensity statins.
- Although there’s no public data on YS2302018, it would be combined with AstraZeneca’s PCSK9i, which achieved a 52% reduction in LDL-C on top of standard-of-care statins in a Phase 1 trial.
- By pairing the PCSK9i with its new Lp(a) disruptor, AZ believes the combined therapy could yield even greater benefits.
This combo approach appears to be a core part of AstraZeneca’s strategy for AZD0780, which is being evaluated in a number of cardiovascular combinations (e.g. with a GLP-1 candidate), and could be worth $5B in the long run.
The Takeaway
While it’s still too early to tell, this PCSK9i + Lp(a) combination is in good hands with AstraZeneca, which has the R&D and commercialization capabilities to fully explore its potential. Given AZ’s efforts with PCSK9i-based combos and ongoing drug developments from the other big pharma companies, the dyslipidemia landscape might look very different in the coming years.
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Cleerly Transforming Cardiovascular Event Prevention
There’s been plenty of studies evaluating healthcare AI accuracy, but does AI improve patient care? Check out this Cardiac Wire show with Udo Hoffmann, MD, MPH and learn how Cleerly’s new TRANSFORM trial could prove that AI-guided cardiovascular care reduces heart attacks.
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How UCSD Improved Post-Stroke Care
Viz Connect improves the monitoring of stroke patients with suspected AFib without adding layers of complexity to the clinical workflow. Hear from Brett C. Meyer, MD, on the impact it has had on post-acute stroke patient care at UCSD.
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Redefining Percutaneous Coronary Intervention
Learn about the AGENT™ Drug-Coated Balloon from Boston Scientific and how this technology is expanding the treatment options for patients with in-stent restenosis in the U.S. Rx only. (Sponsored by Boston Scientific)
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- AccurKardia’s AS AI Breakthrough: The U.S. healthcare system took a major step closer to aortic stenosis screening, following the FDA Breakthrough Device Designation of AccurKardia’s Aortic Valve Stenosis ECG-based AI screening software. The solution screens existing ECG exams for signs of AS, allowing providers to route flagged patients to diagnostic echo exams. Solutions like this offer a value prop that’s rarely achieved with AI, as it has the potential to allow earlier diagnosis, reduce downstream payor costs, and drive hospitals’ aortic valve procedures.
- DXA + FRS CVD Predictions: A study in Nature showed that body composition-based risk scores combined with Framingham Risk Scores (FRS) might improve CVD prediction. The study screened 1,882 older adults for four body composition variables (lean mass, fat mass, bone mineral content, and bone mineral density) using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Among three DXA and FRS models, a model combining DXA and FRS more accurately predicted CVD than models only using FRS or DXA (c-statistic 0.63 vs. 0.58 & 0.62).
- J-Valve Reduces TAVR CAO Risk: JC Medical’s J-Valve transcatheter aortic valve may limit the risk of TAVR-induced coronary artery obstruction, one of the most dangerous TAVR complications. A study in Clinical Interventions in Aging performed TAVR with the J-Valve device on 20 patients at risk of CAO, achieving 30-day success with 95% of patients, with one requiring a second device. Edwards Lifesciences recently acquired JC Medical from Genesis MedTech as part of is ongoing interventional cardiology acquisition spree.
- HF’s Rise in America: HFSA’s latest findings reveal a concerning rise in heart failure prevalence and mortality. Approximately 6.7M Americans over 20 live with heart failure, and that number is projected to increase to 11.4M by 2050. Moreover, 425k deaths were linked to HF between 2020-2021, comprising 45% of cardiovascular deaths. The data also suggests that HF reporting and implementation is falling short, potentially fueling the increase in poor patient outcomes.
- Does Fasting Help Metabolic Syndrome? A widely-covered Annals of Internal Medicine study found that time-restricted eating only “modestly improves” glycemic regulation versus standard-of-care pharmacotherapy and nutritional counseling after 3 months. Among 108 fasting participants, HbA1c levels improved by just −0.10% compared to patients in the control group. This study further proves just how difficult diet studies are to perform, although one expert commenter might have revealed the most helpful takeaway “different people respond to different types of changes differently.”
- Echo IQ’s AS AI Clearance: The echo AI space added yet another competitor with the FDA clearance and U.S. commercial launch of Echo IQ’s EchoSolv-AS solution. EchoSolv-AS is now cleared to support severe aortic stenosis diagnosis, and has reportedly detected up to 97% of high-risk AS cases in studies. Echo IQ just raised another $4.77M, which will come in handy as it begins its U.S. commercial expansion and works to add clearances for other cardiac indications.
- Screening HCM Relatives: Screening relatives might be one of the best ways to detect more patients with undiagnosed HCM – that’s the takeaway from a cohort study of families screened for inherited cardiomyopathies. Testing 1,230 relatives from 531 families found 321 (26%) people with clinical or genetic indications of HCM, while an additional 4% of relatives developed HCM over seven years of follow-up screenings.
- Fertility Treatment Linked to Heart Defects: A Northern European registry study suggests that assisted reproductive technology (ART) can come with higher risks of congenital heart defects (CHDs). In the study of 7.7M children born in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, babies conceived with the help of ART had a 36% higher risk for CHDs, though the incidence was modest in absolute terms (1.84% vs. 1.36%). Risk levels were similar across different kinds of fertility treatments.
- Charged Lemonade Settlement: Panera Bread reached a wrongful death settlement with the family of a 21-year-old student with a heart condition who died after allegedly drinking its charged lemonade last year. Other outstanding lawsuits link the highly-caffeinated lemonade drink to another death and a “permanent” injury. Panera initially added a warning label to the drink but has since discontinued it, citing a “menu transformation.”
- Bivalirudin vs Heparin: An individual participant data pooled analysis confirmed that bivalirudin reduces cardiac mortality and major bleeding compared to heparin monotherapy in STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI. Researchers compared pooled analysis from the six largest trials performed before BRIGHT-4 (n=15k). Compared to heparin, bivalirudin slightly reduced 30-day all-cause mortality and significantly decreased the risk of major bleeding, but increased risks of reinfarction and stent thrombosis.
- SAVM Unhelpful in HFpEF: The REBALANCE-HF study found that endovascular right-sided splanchnic ablation using Axon Therapies’ ablation system is ineffective for HFpEF, dimming the hopes that the approach could help with HFpEF volume management. In the Phase 2 study of 90 patients, SAVM was on par with a sham arm for reducing exercise pulmonary capacity wedge pressure at one month (group difference of -0.03 mm Hg) and did not improve other endpoints, while serious safety event rates were statistically similar.
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Reducing ECG Background Noise
Monebo’s Kinitec Rhythms ECG Algorithm separates true ECG signals from background noise, leading to more accurate diagnoses and improved operator efficiency. See for yourself how the algorithm measured up to a gold standard.
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TeraRecon’s Structural Heart Enhancements
Detecting and addressing mitral valve and LAA conditions can be challenging. Check out TeraRecon’s Structural Heart white paper and discover how improving workflow and pretreatment planning can streamline these processes and potentially improve patient outcomes.
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- Taking AI from Idea to the Clinic: There are few areas of healthcare with more innovation than artificial intelligence, but most of those solutions never make it past being published in a medical journal – providing no additional value to medical care or the solutions’ developers. In this Cardiac Wire Show, Bunkerhill Health CEO Nishith Khandwala discusses Bunkerhill’s unique approach to solving this problem and the impact they are having in cardiology and beyond.
- It’s Time to See The Full Picture: See how HeartFlow ONE is transforming precision heart care as the first all-in-one CCTA pathway, combining FFRCT, stenosis, and plaque analysis in a single workflow.
- Welcome to the New Change Healthcare Cardiology: Explore Change Healthcare Cardiology’s web-enabled cardiovascular imaging platform that lets you access patient records anytime from anywhere, and brings better security, industry-leading structured reporting, and easy EMR integration.
- From CPACS to CVIS: Cardiovascular imaging has come a long way from CPACS. Explore the evolution of cardiology image and data management in this Merge by Merative executive brief, and see what makes CVIS such a significant advancement.
- Experience the future of learning: Medtronic Academy 2.0 is here! Unlock your ultimate destination for structural heart medical education with the newly redesigned Medtronic Academy 2.0. Gain access to expert-led courses, webinars, and a wealth of resources to stay ahead in cardiovascular care. Visit now!
- Relieving The Burden of Post-Processing: With the advent of advanced imaging technologies like CCTA come added burdens to technologists and diagnostic imaging centers. See how PIA can relieve the burden of post-processing, saving you time while helping your bottom line.
- Connecting the Dots in the Care Pathway: Streamline your path to patient care with this GE HealthCare Cardiology Coffee Break (Wednesday, October 16 at 12:00 PM EDT), exploring how integrated enterprise imaging solutions can empower healthcare organizations to provide precision care, achieve operational efficiency, and enhance patient satisfaction.
- Identify and Treat Cardiovascular Disease: Complex care pathways make getting patients to the next step a challenge. See how Tempus Next, an AI enabled care pathway platform, helps providers identify and reduce under treatment in cardiovascular disease by adding an intelligent layer onto their routinely generated EHR data.
- SYMPHONY-HF Starts Recruiting: The SYMPHONY-HF trial – designed to evaluate heart failure screening outside of hospital settings – is now recruiting patients across five countries. See how this combination of Us2.ai’s AI-automated echo reports and NT-proBNP blood testing might help identify more HF patients while it’s still early.
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