An experimental Novo Nordisk drug for cardiovascular diseases, the IL-6 inhibitor ziltivekimab, has failed the phase 3 ZEUS trial, denting the company's plans to expand its pipeline outside diabetes and obesity. The hazard ratio in the trial ranged from a 12% reduction in MACE compared with placebo to an 11% increase. "ZEUS was designed to test whether inhibition of the IL-6 pathway could translate reductions in cardiovascular inflammation into fewer major cardiovascular events," said Novo Nordisk's R&D chief Martin Holst Lange. Novo Nordisk said the ZEUS setback will not affect it profit outlook for the year but will result in a non-cash impairment charge in its third-quarter results. Novo Nordisk acquired ziltivekimab as part of its $725 million takeover of AstraZeneca spin-out Corvidia Therapeutics in 2020.