Immune therapies: The next frontier in the battle against heart disease

New strategies of injecting cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients with vaccines and monoclonal antibodies to combat atherosclerosis could soon change the treatment landscape of heart disease. Both approaches, Jan Nilsson of Lund University told delegates at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2012 meeting, can be considered truly ground breaking since for the first time they target the underlying cause of CVD. "People at high risk of MI [myocarial infarction] are likely to be the first candidates for immune approaches. Such treatments, since they've totally different modes of action, could be used in addition to the current therapies," explained Nilsson. He explained that with phase 2a trials on recombinant antibodies currently ongoing in the US and Canada and results expected to be announced later this year, such treatments could soon become a clinical reality. "If all goes well, the first in class of these treatments could be licensed within four to five years," he added.