The Heart Drug Pelacarsen Fails, Shocking Novartis and Cardiologists

Novartis announced on Friday that its experimental drug, pelacarsen, widely assumed to be the vanguard of a new era in preventing heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular deaths, had failed.

The announcement gave no further details, but it came as a shock to the field of cardiology.

“Oh no — oh no,” said Dr. David Maron, president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology. “This is a huge blow. I hardly know what to say.”

Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a Yale cardiologist, exclaimed: “This is extremely disappointing news. We’ve all been looking forward to celebrating.”

The drug blocks a protein called lipoprotein (a) that is a powerful risk factor for heart disease. Every study short of a randomized clinical trial indicated that lowering Lp(a) would protect people from developing the disease.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/science/heart-drug-fails-novartis-pelacarsen.html