Despite advances in the treatment of acute coronary syndromes, the risk of recurrent cardiovascular events remains substantial. The effectiveness and safety of the drug had not previously been studied in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or for secondary prevention of major cardiovascular events in patients with established coronary artery disease, according to the researchers.
The primary endpoint which was cardiovascular death, heart attack, or recurrent ischemia, occurred in 21.8% of the patients in the ranolazine group, compared with 23.5% of the patients in the placebo group. Failure of therapy occurred at similar rates in both groups. The risk of recurrent ischemia was reduced in the Ranexa, also known as ranolazine, group compared with the placebo group. There was little difference in the total number of deaths between the ranolazine and placebo groups.
Researchers commented that the results do not support the use of ranolazine for acute management of ACS or as disease-modifying therapy for secondary prevention of cardiovascular death.
However, the results do suggest a benefit of ranolazine as an anti-anginal therapy in a substantially more broad population of patients, with established ischemic heart disease, than previously studied.