Ninerafaxstat in the Treatment of Cardiometabolic Disease: Shifting Metabolic Paradigms

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) refers to a wide array of conditions that damage the heart muscle and impede its ability to effectively circulate blood throughout the body. In damaged or pathological states, the heart muscle might not function as effectively as it would have had there been no insult to it. Understanding this, certain CVDs can put the heart in a “metabolic disadvantage”—a state in which it cannot synthesize energy stores, in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), as efficiently as it was once able to do. While the heart typically uses fatty acids for its ATP synthesis, the metabolic processes required to do so consume more oxygen per mole than the processes required to convert glucose (or carbohydrates) to ATP. In conditions when oxygen demand outweighs supply—such as angina, heart failure, and certain inherited CVDs—the myocardium can more efficiently run via glucose oxidation. Despite this knowledge, there are no currently approved therapeutics or interventions that encourage this “metabolic shift” in the myocardial cells. Currently in phase II clinical trials, however, is a novel medication called ninerafaxstat. This novel drug is a partial inhibitor of fatty acid oxidation and thus pushes the heart to convert glucose (instead of fatty acids) to ATP—ultimately cutting down on oxygen supply. While still completing clinical trials, ninerafaxstat must undergo further safety and efficacy evaluation before it can be used as a standard of care. If, however, the drug makes it to market, it might offer a unique way to improve both the symptoms and quality of life of the millions of Americans who suffer from CVDs.