New Data Shows Ranexa(R) Increases Glucose-Stimulated Insulin...( CHICAGO March 31 /- CV Therapeuti...),Health

CHICAGO, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CV Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: CVTX) announced today that preclinical research presented at the American College of Cardiology 57th Annual Scientific Session in Chicago showed that ranolazine increased glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in pancreatic islets isolated from animals and humans.

The Company believes that the increase in GSIS seen with ranolazine may contribute to the statistically significant reductions in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels observed with Ranexa in cardiovascular patients with diabetes from the phase 3 CARISA (n=189 with angina and diabetes) and MERLIN-TIMI 36 (n=2,220 with acute coronary syndromes and diabetes) clinical trials. In CARISA, Ranexa reduced HbA1c levels by an average of up to 0.7 percentage points. In MERLIN-TIMI 36, Ranexa lowered HbA1c versus placebo by an average of 0.43 percentage points at four months in patients with a mean baseline HbA1c level of 7.5%.

The preclinical results presented today showed that ranolazine increased GSIS in a dose-dependent manner in isolated islets. Acute administration of ranolazine to animals also significantly increased GSIS in the presence of a glucose load (p<0.05). Peak increases in insulin levels from ranolazine were similar to those seen with glibenclamide, a sulfonylurea used as a positive control. Unlike glibenclamide, in the absence of glucose ranolazine did not have any effect on insulin secretion.

"These data provide important additional information on the potential underlying mechanism which may be responsible for significant HbA1c reductions without associated hypoglycemia in both the CARISA and MERLIN-TIMI 36 studies," said Luiz Belardinelli, M.D., senior vice president of pharmaco
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