Delivering solutions to the next generation of cardiovascular medicines
JB Flinders, Senior Director, CVMER, Operational Strategy and Planning and Peter Alfinito, Executive Director, CVMER, Operational Strategy and Planning
February is American Heart Month, and we at Labcorp are dedicated to improve the cardiovascular health of patients worldwide, as part of Labcorp’s mission to improve health and improve lives. This month in particular, we join the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in focusing on hypertension—one of the leading risk factors for heart disease, stroke and a myriad of other diseases. The World Health Organization estimates that close to 1.3 billion adults worldwide have hypertension, with two-thirds living in low- and middle-income countries. In 2020 alone, hypertension was responsible for 8.5 million deaths from stroke, ischemic heart disease, and other vascular and renal diseases, with more than 670,000 deaths in the U.S. The Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) Risk Factor Collaboration estimates that hypertension has doubled from 1990 to 2019 despite stable global age-standardized prevalence, showing that new and innovative treatments are still needed to alleviate the costly health outcomes of hypertension.
Labcorp’s engagement across numerous drug and medical device clinical trials has given us an appreciation of the innovative research that has gone into reducing the health costs of hypertension. We were on the ground floor of the development of antihypertensive drugs like angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and beta blockers, which are crucial facets of current treatments. We helped drive research into SGLT-2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists that, which, while approved for other indications and not, have shown strong blood-pressure-lowering effects. And today, we continue to support new and exciting treatments like angiotensin I (AngI) and AngII antibodies and vasoactive intestinal peptide receptor inhibitors.
Improving access to the clinical trials
As we strive to deliver new medicines to patients quicker, insights applied from our cardiovascular experience and expertise have led to better protocol design and more efficient operational strategies. For example, through Labcorp’s data we are able to match high-enrolling investigators to areas of highest patient access, setting the foundation for enrollment success. With access to data across hundreds of indications, including rare disease and pediatrics, Labcorp offers a comprehensive set of capabilities in cardiovascular diseases. In addition, cardiovascular experts within medical, regulatory, operational strategy and project delivery provide the guidance and solutions needed to mitigate risks and solve unexpected challenges. February is American Heart Month and Labcorp recognizes its importance as we work together to improve human health.
To learn more about how we can help you build efficiencies in your cardiology trials, please visit our Cardiovascular Disease page