Lilly partnering on heart failure clinical trial

INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) and Boehringer Ingelheim in Connecticut are collaborating with the Duke Clinical Research Institute on a new clinical trial. Lilly says the trial will investigate whether the diabetes drug Jardiance can improve outcomes and prevent heart failure in adults with and without diabetes who have had a heart attack.

Lilly says the randomized clinical trial, known as EMPACT-MI, will be conducted, analyzed and reported in partnership with the DCRI, with Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly providing funding.

“The EMPACT-MI trial is part of our broad and comprehensive clinical development program, which aims to explore how Jardiance can improve health outcomes and fill therapeutic gaps for a broad range of patients suffering from cardio-renal-metabolic conditions,” said Dr. Jeff Emmick, vice president of product development for Lilly.

The trial will include about 3,300 adults from at least 16 countries who have had an acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack, and will assess the effect of Jardiance on “all-cause mortality and hospitalization” for heart failure. 

The DCRI is part of the Duke University School of Medicine and, according to Lilly, is the largest academic clinical research organization in the world.

Dr. Adrian Hernandez, executive director of the DCRI and co-chair of the clinical trial, says, “This collaboration represents an important step in understanding how to safeguard and protect the lives of patients with acute myocardial infarction.”