Doctors stunned after promising heart drug fails major study

Novartis, a Swiss pharmaceutical company, developed a heart drug that successfully lowered lipoprotein(a), a genetic risk factor for heart disease. However, the drug failed in its final-stage study to reduce heart attacks, strokes, or cardiovascular deaths. This is the company's second major trial setback in a week, affecting Novartis's drug development pipeline and potentially impacting competitors in the industry.