World's first personalized heart therapy improves outcomes by 39 pc

A new research has revealed about a new personalized therapy, dalcetrapib, for cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at the Montreal Heart Institute showed that cardiovascular disease patients and the appropriate genetic background benefit greatly from the new medication, with a reduction of 39 percent in combined clinical outcomes including heart attacks, strokes, unstable angina, coronary revascularizations and cardiovascular deaths.

These patients also benefit from a reduction in the amount of atherosclerosis (thickened walls) in their vessels and this discovery may also pave the way for a new era in cardiovascular medicine, with personalized or precision drugs.

The team performed the analysis of 5749 patients who received dalcetrapib or placebo and provided DNA in a clinical study. A strong association was discovered between the effects of dalcetrapib and a specific gene called ADCY9 (adenylate cyclase 9) on chromosome 16, particularly for a specific genetic variant (rs1967309).

In patients with the genetic profile AA at rs1967309, there was a 39 percent reduction in the composite cardiovascular endpoint with dalcetrapib compared to placebo. Supporting evidence was also obtained from a second study, which showed that patients with the favourable genetic profile also benefited from a reduction in the thickness of their carotid artery walls with dalcetrapib.

Lead investigator Jean-Claude Tardif said that these results will lead to a genetics-guided clinical study in patients with the appropriate genetic background to allow review by health regulatory agencies and to provide personalized therapy with dalcetrapib.

Tardif added that it also offers great hope for precision treatments for patients with cardiovascular diseases and for curbing atherosclerosis, the first cause of mortality in the world.

The study is published in the Journal Circulation Cardiovascular Genetics.