Milestone Pharmaceuticals said Monday that an experimental nasal-spray medicine acted quickly to treat people experiencing episodes of a rapid but non-fatal heart rate — more than doubling the conversion to normal heart rhythm and achieving the primary goal of a late-stage clinical trial.
The medicine, called etripamil, is meant to treat people with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia, or PSVT, a condition characterized by episodes of rapid heartbeat that suddenly start and stop. PSVT is not life threatening, but can be disruptive for people who experience its symptoms, which include palpitations, shortness of breath, lightheadedness, and anxiety, among others.
In the Milestone study, 64% of the participants who self-administered etripamil at the start of a PSVT episode returned to normal heart rhythms within 30 minutes compared to 31% of participants who treated themselves with a placebo. The outcome was statistically significant and achieved the primary goal of the Phase 3 study.
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