Novo Nordisk has stopped two late-stage cardiovascular outcomes trials of ziltivekimab, including the HERMES and ATHENA studies, after an independent data monitoring committee concluded the programs were unlikely to succeed. The decision comes after the drug’s earlier ZEUS trial failure, where inflammation markers shifted but major clinical events did not. The repeated futility calls put pressure on the IL-6–targeted cardiovascular strategy that has been a focus for multiple development teams. Novo’s latest move reinforces how difficult it has been to translate anti-inflammatory biomarker changes into reductions in heart attacks, deaths, and other hard endpoints. For investors and pipeline planners, the halts reduce the near-term probability of ziltivekimab achieving broad late-stage differentiation, even as anti-inflammatory approaches remain an active area across cardiometabolic drug development.