Akshay Vaishnaw
Management
Yes. The primary endpoint in APOLLO-B is six minute walk distance, which is a clinically validated measure in the disease and is intuitively clinically meaningful, patients with cardiomyopathies, any form of heart failure, struggle with exercise and exercise tolerance. So being able to walk significantly better relative to the control arm is going to be very important to demonstrate that. And so, the primary endpoint, in and of itself, will be very clinically meaningful. Beyond that, we will get a lot of additional data from that study. Of course, we'll be looking at hospitalization rates mortality. The study is not powered for that, but it will, of course, be important to see what trends we're seeing there. And in addition to that, a host of biomarkers and other endpoints such as BNP, such as echo cardiogram changes and technician and the like. Now, the reason why we feel excited about that whole package and the likelihood of success is that, if you go back to the original APOLLO study with patisiran in hATTR with polyneuropathy and the cardiac patients within that study or patients that had significant cardiac disease, I should say. We saw very encouraging findings. We saw the 10-meter walk test stabilized relative to placebo very deteriorated dramatically. We saw that BNP was favorable slightly down relative to placebo. In that study BNP is an important cardiac biomarker. Echocardiogram showed reduction in the left ventricular wall thickness. And then subsequent to that other groups have demonstrated academic groups such as the Gilmore Group in London and they published this. They see diminution on technician scan with evidence for regression of amyloid in the heart. They also saw that light cardiac MRI. They saw stabilization of six minute walk distance in their ONPATTRO treated hATTR cardiopathy patients. These are all very encouraging findings to us that support, the likelihood success with APOLLO-B. And then, finally, with mortality and hospitalization itself, post hoc analysis from the original APOLLO study did demonstrate a significant difference. Now post hoc and we should be very mindful of that. But, again, an encouraging finding. So in totality, I think, the therapeutic rationale is very strong, both for APOLLO-B and also for vutrisiran in HELIOS-B where, of course, the study is larger and it's powered to detect mortality and hospitalization changes and that's the primary readout. And so, I think if APOLLO-B is positive, which, I've given you the reasons why we're excited. We're then very encouraged by the implications for HELIOS-B as a result. And it should speed the interim analysis and so forth of HELIOS-B.