September 12, 2017 — Inclisiran lowers low-density lipoprotein (LDL, or “bad”) cholesterol for up to one year in patients with high cardiovascular risk and elevated LDL cholesterol, according to late-breaking results from the ORION 1 trial presented at the 2017 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress.

September 12, 2017 — The IL-1β inhibitor canakinumab lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and lung cancer risk by reducing inflammation, according to late-breaking results from the CANTOS trial presented at the 2017 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress and published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian recently became the first hospital in Orange County, Calif., to install the Siemens Somatom Force computed tomography (CT) scanner. The Somatom Force allows radiologists to obtain higher-quality images faster, more efficiently and with less radiation than older-generation CT scanners.

September 11, 2017 — According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global electrophysiology therapeutic devices market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 9 percent between 2017 and 2021.

Merck and researchers in the Clinical Trial Service Unit at the University of Oxford announced the publication and presentation of results from the REVEAL outcomes study of anacetrapib, Merck’s investigational cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitor. In the study of 30,449 patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease receiving LDL-C lowering treatment with atorvastatin, anacetrapib significantly reduced the risk of major coronary events (composite of coronary death, myocardial infarction or coronary revascularization) by 9 percent relative to placebo (10.8% vs. 11.8%, respectively; P=0.004). The safety of anacetrapib was generally consistent with data from earlier trials of the drug. However, a sub-study also showed that anacetrapib accumulates in adipose tissue with prolonged dosing.