Novartis on Wednesday announced positive results from the Phase III trial of Leqvio, a cholesterol-lowering medication. According to the company’s statement, the drug has met its primary endpoints in the trial.
“Leqvio monotherapy achieved clinically meaningful and statistically significant low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) lowering versus both placebo and ezetimibe in patients who were at low or moderate risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and not receiving lipid-lowering therapy,” the company said in a statement.
According to Novartis, V-MONO is the first trial evaluating a small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapy taken as monotherapy to lower LDL-C in patients at low or moderate risk of developing ASCVD. Novartis plans to present results from this trial at an upcoming medical meeting and share with regulatory agencies including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“We are proud that we continue to advance the scientific understanding of using siRNA therapy to tackle one of the world’s biggest healthcare challenges, as too many people still struggle to reach their cholesterol goals,” said Shreeram Aradhye, M.D., President, Development and Chief Medical Officer, Novartis. “This trial adds to the growing body of evidence for Leqvio across the full spectrum of ASCVD as we strive to help more patients in need.”
Novartis continues to advance multiple studies evaluating the potential use of Leqvio across primary and secondary prevention. VICTORION-1-PREVENT (V1P) is the only dedicated study of a non-statin lipid-lowering therapy in a high-risk primary prevention population as defined by American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines; this outcomes study is expected to complete enrollment later this year, it stated.
In the secondary prevention setting, the ORION-4 and VICTORION-2-PREVENT (V2P) outcomes studies remain on track for data readouts in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
