Highly purified omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in clinical development.

Highly purified omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) (Omacor) is the focus of an extensive and ambitious clinical development program that seeks to build on the results of the Gruppo Italiano per lo Studio della Sopravvivenza nell'Infarto Miocardico (GISSI)-Prevenzione study. Studies currently in progress include very large clinical outcome trials designed to evaluate the impact of omega-3 PUFAs on death and major morbid events in defined patient populations such as individuals with heart failure or diabetes, specialist investigations in very high-risk populations such as patients requiring hemodialysis, and a range of specialized studies concerned with mechanisms of action and effects on biochemical and laboratory indices. The emergence of results from these studies can be expected to define a spectrum of indications for omega-3 PUFAs in the management of cardiovascular and renal disease.