A wonder drug that slashes the risk of dying from heart attacks and cancer is being hailed as the biggest medical breakthrough since statins.

The drug cut the dangers by up to a half in a landmark study.

Dr. Paul Ridker said his Harvard University team’s findings would mean “a new era” of treatment.

Experts said the drug called canakinumab, which targets inflammation, was also found to protect against gout and arthritis.

Inflammation from infection or injury plays a major role in heart attacks. Statins, which lower cholesterol, are not very effective in such cases.

Around 600,000 people die from heart disease each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But the study of canakinumab found it cuts repeat attacks by 24 percent.

Dr. Paul Ridker revealed the breakthrough at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona.

He said: “For the first time, we’ve been able to definitively show that lowering inflammation independent of cholesterol reduces cardiovascular risk.”

Statins were the last big breakthrough in the 1980s.

In the new study, 10,000 heart patients were given the drug. Those on a strong dose had a 24 percent risk drop and a 36 percent cut in angina.

Cancer death risks fell by up to 51 percent, gout dropped by up to 56 percent and osteoarthritis by up to 33 percent.

It costs $50,000 a year to treat a patient with canakinumab but experts say the price would drop if it was more widely adopted.

Novartis, which makes canakinumab, said it would apply for a license for heart disease use.