Novartis heart failure drug sinks at Phase 3 trials

Novartis’ serelaxin was once thought to be the major hope for its cardiovascular pipeline – analysts projected it to become a blockbuster and Novartis thought it could shore up gaps in its portfolio from patent expires on drugs such as Diovan. It was one of the first drugs to receive the FDA’s then newly introduce ‘breakthrough therapy’ designation. Now, it looks like that promising future for the drug may be in tatters, as it failed to impress in a Phase 3 trial to add to its previous failures to take-off.