In a WebMD article, an experimental drug was said to be more effective than standard treatment at preventing deaths and hospitalizations in heart-failure
patients. According to the study authors, the trial was stopped early because of the marked benefit of the new drug, called LCZ696.
In the trial, 26.5 percent of those getting the standard medication, enalapril (Vasotec), either died or were hospitalized due to heart failure, the article said, compared with 21.8 percent of those on the new drug.
"LCZ696 could become the new gold standard, replacing ACE inhibitors," said lead researcher Dr. John McMurray, a professor of cardiology at the British
Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Glasgow, in Scotland.
LCZ696 combines two blood pressure drugs -- an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) and the neprilysin inhibitor known as sacubitril. Read the full article