TRVN:
I think I've babbled about the heart drug before. I think the science is sound, but there is a subtle aspect to it that is amplified by the models used. In other words, the cell lines overexpressing various signaling proteins and the analogous transgenic mice create a model system that likely over-estimates the impact and magnitude of the "biased" protective signaling mechanisms they're targeting.
Also, it should be noted that one of their papers many years ago suggested that carvedilol was effectively a biased antagonist of the beta-adrenergic receptor unlike a classical b-blocker like propranolol. If their hypothesis is clinically relevant, carvedilol should be able to outperform other b-blockers. To date, I do know of a meta-analysis that has suggested such a finding (24.1% versus 28.5% all cause mortality).
If this is the magnitude of the treatment effect, they'll have to run relatively large trials for the AT receptor drug.
