Heart disease drug trial expanded

It is hoped the work could save thousands of lives a year

One of the largest human drug trials Oxford scientists have ever undertaken has been expanded.

Five thousand extra volunteer heart patients will be recruited in addition to the existing 20,000.

They will be given statins to lower cholesterol. Half will be given another drug to increase good cholesterol while the other half will be given a placebo.

They will be tested every six months over four years to see whether the drugs work.

'Major killer'

Heart disease is the UK's biggest killer, claiming 200,000 lives each year and costs the NHS £14.4bn each year.

The project, THRIVE, began in May 2006 with the aim of cutting cardiovascular disease in high-risk patients.

Oxford University researchers are testing whether niacin, a drug which increases 'good' cholesterol, will benefit patients already on treatment to reduce their 'bad' cholesterol.

This enhancement will give us a more powerful tool with which to assess this intervention for the benefit of heart patients everywhere Prof Jane Armitage

The work could save many thousands of lives a year throughout the world, it is hoped.

Prof Jane Armitage, one of the principal investigators based at University of Oxford clinical trial service unit (CTSU), said: "Vascular disease is a major killer in the developed world and, increasingly, in the developing world, so trials like this are very important.

"Recruitment to THRIVE is going well, but the expansion of this project is very good news.

"In terms of numbers, bigger is very much better. This enhancement will give us a more powerful tool with which to assess this intervention for the benefit of heart patients everywhere."

The clinical trial service unit is based at the Richard Doll building in Oxford.

Nearly 1,000 people from Oxfordshire have been screened and of those, 258 have been recruited for the trial.

Elsewhere, participants will be sought in China, Scandinavia and across the UK.

The study is scheduled to end in 2013, but with these additional patients, scientists hope that it will be able to report sooner.