What the trial was testing
The APOLLO-B enrolled 360 patients with amyloidosis. The study was sponsored by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
Patisiran helped preserve walking ability and improved quality of life scores in people with ATTR heart disease.
The New England journal of medicine · 2023 · NCT03997383
These findings — that people on patisiran maintained their ability to walk farther than those on placebo after one year. — were published in the The New England journal of medicine and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 360 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with amyloidosis, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Patisiran is FDA-approved for ATTR amyloidosis with nerve damage, and this trial shows it may help people with the heart form of the disease. If you have ATTR heart disease, ask your cardiologist whether patisiran is right for you and whether it's covered by your insurance.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open amyloidosis trials
Florbetaben for Imaging of Vascular Amyloid
The Primary Objective is to determine if a new nuclear tracer (named 18F-Florbetaben) used with nuclear imaging (PET imaging) can detect inflamed plaque in patients with recent ACS or stroke/TIA.
Quantitative-imaging in Cardiac Transthyretin Amyloidosis
Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), is a heart muscle disease that's stops the heart muscle working properly. With an ageing population, it is increasingly common but untreated, it has a poor prognosis. Several novel expensive treatments have become available, although we do not understand exactly how they work and why some patients respond, and others do not. The challenge is to develop better methods for monitoring the effects of these treatments, maximizing their benefits and cost-effectiveness. In I-CARE we aim to bring a new imaging technique, named 18F-fluoride PET, to the clinic and thereby improve the care of patients with ATTR-CM. Hypotheses: 1. A delayed imaging protocol and state-of-the-art PET motion correction will optimise 18F-fluoride imaging in ATTR-CM and provide a clear threshold in myocardial TBR values for the diagnosis of ATTR-CM. 2. Optimised 18F-fluoride PET will provide a quantitative marker of the ATTR-CM burden that will allow disease progression and treatment response to be tracked. 3. Myocardial 18F-fluoride TBR values will reduce in patients responding to tafamidis treatment and increase in non-responders and patients not receiving therapy