March 24, 2009 - Efficacy and safety study results for Corthera's investigational drug relaxin for the treatment of acute heart failure (AHF) will be presented Sunday, March 29, during the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) 58th Annual Scientific Session in Orlando, FL.
Corthera's Phase II/III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, international trial was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of relaxin for the treatment of AHF. Patients enrolled in the study presented to the hospital with dyspnea (breathlessness) due to AHF with elevated blood pressure and renal dysfunction. Patients were treated with a 48-hour IV infusion of relaxin or placebo.
John R. Teerlink, M.D., professor of medicine, University of California San Francisco, director of Heart Failure, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center will present the results from the Pre-RELAX-AHF study as part of an ACC special session entittled "Late-Breaking Clinical Trials I: Congestive Heart Failure."
Relaxin is a naturally occurring peptide hormone that acts as a systemic and renal vasodilator. Elevated levels of relaxin modulate increases in renal and cardiac function that meet the increased hemodynamic demands of pregnancy. Consistent with this natural role of the hormone, pharmaceutically manufactured relaxin has been shown to have these effects in multiple human studies of men and nonpregnant women, including patients with heart failure.
For more information: www.corthera.com