In 2012, a clinical trial for the investigative hepatitis C drug BMS-986094 was terminated following the death of a patient.
A retrospective review of a phase 2 trial for the drug has found that rates of cardiotoxicity associated with the drug may be as high as 40 percent.
BMS-986094 was a nucleotide-polymerase inhibitor being tested in combination with a number of different drugs, including Daclatasvir, as a treatment for chronic hepatitis C (HCV) infection. However, in August 2012, Bristol-Myers Squibb terminated development for the drug after a 25-year-old patient developed rapidly progressive heart failure and died.
The termination of BMS-986094 sent a shock wave through HCV drug development, resulting in the clinical hold and eventual scrapping of similar compounds, including Idenix’s IDX184 and IDX19368.
A new retrospective review assessing that adverse events associated with BMS-986094 has been published in the journal Hepatology and provides new insight into the cardiotoxicity associated with the compound.