AZD-8601

**AZD-8601** is an investigational mRNA-based therapy developed by AstraZeneca in collaboration with Moderna that encodes vascular endothelial growth factor A (**VEGF-A**), a paracrine factor promoting angiogenesis, progenitor cell division, and cardiac repair. Administered via direct epicardial or intracardiac injection, it transiently induces local VEGF-A expression to stimulate blood vessel formation and myocardial regeneration. It reached **Phase II** in heart failure patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (**CABG**) surgery in the EPICCURE trial (NCT03370887), meeting primary safety/tolerability endpoints with trends in improved left ventricular ejection fraction (**LVEF**), reduced NT-proBNP, and patient-reported outcomes, though development was later discontinued or terminated for cardiovascular indications.[1][2][4][9]

Other names

VEGF-A mRNAVEGF-A165 mRNAVEGF-A-165 mRNAVEGF-A 165 mRNA