Cytokinetics Inc. CEO Robert Blum said his firm chalked “a watershed moment” during last weekend’s congress of European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in London, where further mid- and late-stage data were disclosed with the heart drug aficamten, a myosin inhibitor. South San Francisco-based Cytokinetics rolled out six presentations, including two late breakers, with four concurrent publications in medical journals.

Elixir Medical Corp. reported positive 12-month data from the Infinity-Swedeheart trial that compared its Dynamx coronary bioadaptor system to Medtronic plc’s Resolute Onyx zotarolimus drug-eluting stent in patients requiring percutaneous coronary intervention with coronary artery disease.

In what represents Vienna, Austria-based Valeriot GmbH’s first patenting, its founder and CEO, Michael Flatscher, describes their invention of a device, Autovein, for use in no-touch vein harvesting which overcomes the issues faced with traditional vein harvesting techniques which are laborious, prone to complications and challenging to master.

Essential branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) such as leucine, isoleucine or valine, cannot be synthesized by mammals, making them an obligate part of the diet.

Researchers from Astrazeneca plc presented the structure and preclinical characterization of a novel PCSK9 inhibitor, AZD-0780, being developed for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. A new potentially druggable functional binding pocket was identified on the PCSK9 C-terminal domain (CTD), and multiple fragment screens generated a single CTD-binding hit.

Hope for definitive resolution of the controversy about the superiority of transcatheter edge-to-edge repair of mitral valves over medical therapy in individuals with symptomatic heart failure and functional mitral regurgitation were dashed at the European Society of Cardiology meeting this weekend.

Researchers from the National University of Singapore and affiliated organizations presented data from a study that investigated the potential of targeting chondroitin sulfate (CS) synthesis as a therapeutic strategy for ameliorating hyperplastic arterial remodeling.

With a successful phase III study of plozasiran in hand, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. plans to file an NDA with the U.S. FDA for treating the rare genetic disease familial chylomicronemia syndrome. While the data are strong, the company is playing catch-up to Ionis Pharmaceuticals Inc., which has a December 2024 PDUFA for its candidate, olezarsen, in the same indication.