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First-of-its-kind national drug trial for cardiovascular disease
Mar 25,2025
St. John’s Hospital to coordinate a nationwide trial to take place in the next three year.
Last Updated : 24 March 2025, 22:26 IST. Read more at: https://www.deccanherald.com/health/first-of-its-kind-national-drug-trial-for-cardiovascular-disease-3460680
Bengaluru: A large-scale, first-of-its-kind national trial is underway to test the efficacy of a drug treatment for cardiovascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and strokes.
The Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) Centre for Advanced Research (CAR) at St John's Research Institute has launched India’s largest cardiovascular disease prevention trial, ICRAG-2, which evaluates a low-cost, multi-pronged intervention for cardiovascular diseases (CVD).
ICRAG-2 is led by Dr Denis Xavier, Professor and Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Division of Clinical Research and Training at St John’s Medical College and Research Institute.
Over the next three years, the trial will be conducted at 40 sites across the country, centrally coordinated at St John’s, with support from four Regional Coordinating Centres — AIIMS Bhopal, JIPMER Puducherry, SRM Chennai, and Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh. It will assess outcomes including heart attacks, strokes, CVD-related hospitalisations and deaths, aiming to develop a low-cost model for the treatment and prevention of CVDs in India.
The trial will evaluate the efficacy of a rational fixed-dose combination (FDC), mobile health (mHealth), and a non-physician health worker-led strategy for heart disease and stroke prevention.On Monday, the institute inaugurated a training programme for national investigators, coordinators, and non-physician health workers (NPHWs), which will continue until Friday. Researchers note that the findings will provide robust, data-backed evidence to reduce risk factors and improve cardiovascular disease care in India and other low- and middle-income countries.
