Acesion Pharma ApS reported that its lead drug candidate AP-30663 hit the primary endpoint of a phase II trial in atrial fibrillation (AF). The study had an adaptive design, which allowed for the recruitment of up to 108 patients experiencing an active AF episode, but the study investigators saw sufficient efficacy after a blinded evaluation of just 63 patients to terminate at that point. The study, which began shortly before the COVD-19 pandemic, had been underway for three years at that stage.

Coming off a tough year for raising money, Cadrenal Therapeutics Inc. is leading the charge into a new year by completing 2023’s first U.S. IPO. The company closed its IPO of 1.4 million shares at $5 each for $7 million. The stock (NASDAQ:CVKD) began trading Jan. 20 and closed 9.37% downward on Jan. 25 at $2.90 per share.

Few disease states in the world of cardiology have been studied as persistently as atrial fibrillation (AF), but new study data presented in Chicago at the 2022 scientific sessions of the American Heart Association seem to advance the cause of an ablation-first strategy for some patients experiencing paroxysmal AF. The PROGRESSIVE-AF study demonstrated that patients who are ablated early in the disease cycle are less likely than those placed on drug management to experience recurrence and to be readmitted, just two of several findings that are driving cardiologists toward device therapy and away from drug therapy for their patients with AF.