A new report from the American Heart Association (AHA) has found that US cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related deaths declined between 2022 and 2023 – bucking a five-year upward trend.
Published in the AHA's journal Circulation, The 2026 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics: A Report of U.S. and Global Data From the American Heart Association, reveals that 915,973 people in the US died from CVD in 2023 compared to 941,652 in 2022. Both values include patients who passed away due to stroke, heart disease, hypertension and heart failure.
This follows the prior five-year upward trend in heart disease and stroke deaths, which the AHA says is likely driven, in part, by the Covid-19 pandemic.
While Latha Palaniappan, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford University, is encouraged by the decline in deaths, she added that “around half” of all US adults continue to have some form of CVD.
“Rates [in the US] are still higher than they were before the pandemic, and persistent increases in common conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity continue to drive the risk,” Palaniappan said.
Based on 2023 data, heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the US, while stroke has now become the fourth most common reason for mortality, with this previously being Covid-19.
Stroke remains area of unmet need
As CVDs remain among the top five causes of death in the US, there is a clear need to provide patients with safe and effective medications that can manage these conditions, improve quality of life (QoL) and reduce the risk of premature mortality.
Within the CVD segment, stroke remains a strong area of unmet need, with limited treatment options available to patients. Until the US approval of TNKase (tenecteplase) in March 2025, Genentech’s Activase (alteplase) was the only clot-busting drug on the stroke market for three decades. TNKase is a modified version of Activase offering easier, single-dose administration.
This unmet need has led certain biotech and pharma companies to explore further treatment options for this indication, with many now in clinical trials.
This includes Silver Creek Therapeutics, which recently shared mixed results from the Phase II ARPEGGIO study (NCT05585606) on its late-intervention acute ischemic stroke candidate, SCP-776.
Revalesio is also looking to progress its oxygen-enriched saline formulation, RNS-60, to Phase III in early- and late-window patients following the positive outcome of its mid-stage trial on the asset, which saw the drug reduce brain tissue loss.
In the haemorrhagic stroke subset, which shares overlapping risk factors with CVDs like heart failure, Belgian biotech Bioxodes is progressing its candidate, BIOX-101 to late-stage trials after the drug demonstrated its strong potential in Phase II. If BIOX-101 displays efficacy in haemorrhagic stroke, it could become the first approved treatment for this indication.
GlobalData forecasts that the stroke market will be worth $10.5bn across the eight major markets (8MM: the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Japan and China) in 2027.
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
