Novo Nordisk stopped two late-stage cardiovascular trials of ziltivekimab, its antibody targeting inflammation, after a data monitoring committee concluded the studies were unlikely to succeed. The decision followed the earlier ZEUS trial failure, where reduced inflammatory markers did not translate into lower risk for major clinical complications such as death and heart attack. With HERMES and ATHENA now halted for futility, the setback tightens the timeline for this mechanism strategy and adds pressure to retool the company’s cardiovascular inflammation roadmap. For investors, the sequence signals that inflammatory biomarker modulation alone has not yielded the expected clinical payoff. The broader sector will watch whether competitors recalibrate inflammation-led approaches in cardiovascular disease—especially those that rely on similar target biology—before spending more on high-cost outcomes trials.