Genmab, Inc., Roche Drug Reduces Damage to Heart Muscle During Angioplasty

A single dose of the investigational anti-inflammatory inclacumab, developed by Roche and Genmab, considerably reduces damage to heart muscle during angioplasty. That was the conclusion of a Phase II trial, the data for which has been presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting in San Francisco. The 530-patient study, led by Jean-Claude Tardif of the University of Montreal, compared the effects of one of two doses of inclacumab, an antibody that blocks P-selectin, a molecule that drives inflammation and plays an important role in vascular disease, with placebo. Patients were randomised to receive an infusion of inclacumab at 20 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg or placebo one to 24 hours before angioplasty.Dr Tardif and his team then measured the subjects' levels of troponin I, which is a marker used clinically to diagnose heart attack.