Moderna and AstraZeneca have reported that their experimental therapy, AZD8601, met the primary goal of safety and tolerability in the Phase IIa EPICCURE clinical trial in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).

Developed jointly by the companies, AZD8601 is a messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) treatment encoding for vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A).

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Related Company Profiles

View all

Carried out by AstraZeneca, the placebo-controlled, randomised, double-blind, multicentre, six-month trial analysed the safety, tolerability and exploratory efficacy of epicardial doses of AZD8601.

A total of 11 individuals with stable coronary artery disease and moderately decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) undergoing CABG surgery was part of the trial.

Seven of them were given AZD8601 directly into the myocardium while four others received a placebo.

Numerical trends were reported in the three exploratory efficacy goals of the trial: LVEF; NT-proBNP; and functional subject-reported outcomes versus placebo.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

A biomarker, NT-proBNP assesses the level of a hormone and is found to be high in heart failure patients.

After a six-month follow-up, all seven subjects in the AZD8601 arm were found to have NT-proBNP levels below the heart failure limit as against one in the placebo arm.

AstraZeneca BioPharmaceuticals R&D executive vice-president Mene Pangalos said: “These early results indicate the potential of mRNA therapeutics in stimulating VEGF-A production to provide reparative and disease-modifying options for patients with heart failure and other ischemic vascular diseases.”

AstraZeneca and Moderna collaborated in 2013 to develop and market mRNA therapies to treat various cardiovascular, metabolic, and renal diseases.

Last month, Moderna dosed the first patient in the Phase III CMVictory trial of its cytomegalovirus vaccine candidate, mRNA-1647.