Heart drug lacks vital funding

By Jane Elliott
BBC News Online staff

The drug is out of patent

Doctors say they cannot afford to carry out trials into a potentially lifesaving heart drug because it will not make money for pharmaceutical firms.

The drug NAC is already widely used to treat patients who have taken paracetamol overdoses.

Doctors based at the Royal Brompton Hospital, London, believe it might also be vital in helping prevent extensive damage to the heart muscle following angina and heart attacks.

But even though the researchers believe it will ultimately help heart patients suffer fewer problems and even save lives they can not find anyone to fund a trial into its efficiency.

Results

The 20 year patent covering the drug has run out, so any drug firm which invests large sums in clinical trials must face the fact that it is unlikely to make much money if the drug proves successfully.

This is probably why none are prepared to put the cash into the study, say the researchers.

Researchers say a small scale trial of the drug, funded by a patient's donation, has proved inconclusive, but gave the researchers hope that a larger trial might provide evidence that the drug can save large areas of heart muscle.

Dr Simon Davies, consultant cardiologist, said initial results on 28 patients showed "encouraging results" and now he wanted to extend that to a larger study with about 50 to 100 patients.

We might in the end save further patients then and there Dr Simon Davies

"Our results were encouraging, but inconclusive. There was a trend to have less heart muscle damage following the use of the drug NAC.

"There were no adverse reactions to NAC and it seems to be saving heart muscle.

"We might in the end save further patients then and there, at the time of the heart attack itself.

"But certainly we hope that the patients who survive the heart attack will have better heart muscle, and therefore be less likely to have problems such as heart failure in the future.

"There is basic scientific research from laboratories around the world to show that NAC helps heart muscle in several ways.

Dr Simon Davies is seeking funding

Dr Davies said drug companies had been reluctant to help fund such a trial, perhaps because they would not benefit from it.

Cash

He also said they had not been able so far to attract funding from either the NHS or the government research programmes, which are under a huge demand.

"The big frustration is funding.

"It is very difficult to get funding for a study that is not supported by a large drugs company.

"The drug is out of patent and the result of that is that no drug company is going to take it on. And unless it is gene therapy or molecular research, it is not considered sexy enough to get cash from other areas.

"This drug should be available - it just needs money to make it available for the research."

Richard Ley, a spokesman for The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) agreed that companies would be reluctant to fund this sort of trial, because it would present them with no returns.

"It would be a problem because we work on a commercial basis.

"The costs (of research) are very significant indeed it is not possible for a commercial organisation like ourselves to put the money in with no hope of return."