Forbes' CardioRex fails in Phase II study

Forbes Medi-Tech has said that a Phase II clinical trial of itssterol-based product CardioRex in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia did not meet the expected target of a 20%-25% reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which was required to make the drug commercially viable as a prescription product. Findings were also inconsistent with previous study results of sterol/stanol formulations, which reduced LDL cholesterol levels by approximately 15%.

Although Forbes has decided not to pursue the further development of CardioRex as a cholesterol-lowering prescription product, evidence suggests that the drug could be developed as a non-prescription dietary supplement that may provide superior efficacy to any other product in this category.