Doctors at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London will treat 200 patients next month as part of the first ever gene therapy trial for heart failure, which is taking place in 50 centres around the world.

A separate trial, which will test the same therapy in 24 patients who have been fitted with mechanical heart pumps, is expected to begin later this year.

Prof Sian Harding of Imperial College London, who developed the treatment, said: "It's been a painstaking, 20-year process to find the right gene and make a treatment that works, but we're thrilled to be working with cardiologists to set up human trials that could help people living with heart failure."

Prof Peter Weissberg, Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation, which is co-funding the research, said: "While drugs can offer some relief, there is currently no way of restoring function to the heart for those suffering with heart failure. Gene therapy is one of the new frontiers in heart science."

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Gene therapy for heart failure