Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that Novartis has completed patient enrollment of the pivotal Phase 3 Lp(a) HORIZON cardiovascular outcomes study of pelacarsen, with 8,325 study participants. Lp(a) HORIZON is evaluating the safety and efficacy of pelacarsen in reducing cardiovascular events in patients with cardiovascular disease and elevated levels of Lp(a). Topline data from the study are expected in 2025.

Novartis licensed pelacarsen from Ionis in 2019. Pelacarsen, formerly IONIS-APO(a)-LRx, is an investigational antisense medicine designed to inhibit the production of apolipoprotein(a) in the liver to reduce elevated lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a) levels, an independent, inherited and causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and calcific aortic valve stenosis. High Lp(a) levels, which are associated with significant risk of coronary heart disease, cannot be reduced with lifestyle modifications or with existing lipid-lowering therapies.

Pelacarsen uses Ionis' Ligand-Conjugated Antisense (LICA) technology platform.