--- title: Heart Failure Drug Hailed as Breakthrough description: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug for heart failure that some believe could replace the current standard of care. canonical: https://time.com/3949493/breakthrough-drug-heart-failure/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-08T16:17:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T09:03:29.031Z article:section: Health og:title: Heart Failure Drug Hailed as Breakthrough og:description: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug for heart failure that some believe could replace the current standard of care. og:url: https://time.com/3949493/breakthrough-drug-heart-failure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt673f7c1cfd6a21ca/69885a03524fc0f057df374d/gettyimages-463683158.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: SWITZERLAND-ECONOMY-PHARMA-NOVARTIS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Heart Failure Drug Hailed as Breakthrough twitter:description: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug for heart failure that some believe could replace the current standard of care. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt673f7c1cfd6a21ca/69885a03524fc0f057df374d/gettyimages-463683158.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Breakthrough Heart Failure Drug Approved by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jul 8, 2015 4:17 PM UTC  A picture shows the headquarters of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis in Basel on February 17, 2015\. AFP PHOTO / SEBASTIEN BOZON (Photo credit should read SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images) A picture shows the headquarters of Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis in Basel on February 17, 2015\. AFP PHOTO / SEBASTIEN BOZON (Photo credit should read SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP/Getty Images)Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jul 8, 2015 4:17 PM UTC The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has [approved](http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm453845.htm) a new drug for heart failure that some say could replace current drugs and procedures used to treat the condition. On Tuesday, the FDA approved drug company Novartis’ Entresto, formally known as LCZ696, for clinical use. In trials, the drug cut deaths or hospitalization from heart disease by 20%. Novartis developed the drug hoping to replace ACE inhibitors, which are one of the go-tos for heart failure treatment. In a previous trial, an ethics council had requested that Novartis end the trial early since the data showed that trial participants using LCZ696 lived longer without being hospitalized for heart failure compared to people using the common ACE inhibitor, enalapril. Patients swallow two tablets a day, which cost about $12.50 (or $4500 a year). So far, the side effects include low blood pressure and a drop in kidney function, as well as some swelling in the face, but experts, and the FDA, believe the benefits in improving heart function generally outweigh these potential adverse events. [Early reports suggest](http://www.wsj.com/articles/novartis-heart-failure-drug-approved-by-fda-1436304389) the drug will be a “blockbuster” on Wall Street. Read more about Entresto [here](http://time.com/3224444/new-heart-drug-saves-lives/). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3949493/breakthrough-drug-heart-failure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3949493/breakthrough-drug-heart-failure/"},"headline":"Breakthrough Heart Failure Drug Approved","datePublished":"2015-07-08T16:17:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:03:29.031Z","description":"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new drug for heart failure that some believe could replace the current standard of care.","url":"https://time.com/3949493/breakthrough-drug-heart-failure/","keywords":["Heart Disease"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt673f7c1cfd6a21ca/69885a03524fc0f057df374d/gettyimages-463683158.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt673f7c1cfd6a21ca/69885a03524fc0f057df374d/gettyimages-463683158.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SWITZERLAND-ECONOMY-PHARMA-NOVARTIS","caption":"SWITZERLAND-ECONOMY-PHARMA-NOVARTIS","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/heart-disease/","name":"Heart Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3949493/breakthrough-drug-heart-failure/","name":"Breakthrough Heart Failure Drug Approved"}}]}] ```