Myogen data supports low-dose enoximone as heart failure treatment
Enoximone, a phosphodiesterase (type III) inhibitor, helps strengthen the heart's contractions, thus alleviating many of the debilitating symptoms of chronic heart failure. Previous studies found that high doses of the compound enhanced exercise capacity, but also increased the frequency of adverse events.
In the new study, however, 12 weeks of treatment with low doses of enoximone increased exercise capacity in heart failure patients, without increasing adverse events. The double-blind, placebo-controlled study, carried out in nine U.S. coronary care centers, also demonstrated an overall improvement in patient clinical status.
"The capacity of heart failure sufferers to exercise provides a practical measure of cardiac output and as such is a useful means to assess the effects of drugs on the heart," said Brian Lowes director of the Heart Failure Treatment Program at the University of Colorado Health Science Center. "This study showed that enoximone in low doses has the potential to improve the quality of life of individuals suffering from this debilitating disease without causing apparent adverse effects."
In a company press release, Myogen CEO J. William Freytag stated that the company plans to confirm these results in a Phase III pivotal program initiated earlier this year. The program will enroll 1,300 patients in over 50 sites across the U.S. and Europe, he added.
Myogen is a privately held biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research and development of drugs for treatment of heart failure. The company's intravenous formulation of enoximone, Perfan I.V., is currently being sold in European countries for the acute treatment of severe heart failure and post-cardiac surgical support.
For more information: Myogen Inc., 7577 W. 103rd Ave., Suite 212, Westminster, CO 80021-5426. Tel: 303-410-6666. Fax: 303-410-6667.
Edited by Jim Pomager
Assistant Editor, Drug Discovery Online