FDA commissioner shortlist revealed; AstraZeneca heart drug Wainua fails pivotal trial

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Good morning, Jason Mast here filling in for Ed Silverman again. Today, in STAT’s Brooklyn outpost we’re drinking — yes, heresies of heresies — plain old water. Sometimes you have to give the heart a rest. The news, though, never stops. Here are the headlines. …

The White House is reviewing a list of top contenders for the FDA commissioner post , STAT reports. The shortlist includes Heidi Overton, a White House adviser; Jeffrey Vacirca, an oncologist and health system executive; and Stephen Ferrara, a health affairs official at the Defense Department. The role has been filled, on an acting basis, by Kyle Diamantas , since Marty Makary resigned earlier this year.

A closely watched heart failure drug from AstraZeneca and Ionis failed in a pivotal trial, STAT tells us. The drug, called Wainua, was a core part of AstraZeneca’s plans to reach $80 billion in annual sales, and the news sent both companies’ stocks tumbling. Some analysts partly blamed the recent spate of approvals of other medications for the disease, called ATTR-cardiomyopathy, from Alnylam and BridgeBio. Many patients were already on another drug, making it harder to demonstrate Wainua’s effect.

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