Novartis launches social network for heart failure patients, caregivers
Novartis has launched a social network called Together in HF for heart failure patients and caregivers.
Novartis said in a news release that Together in HF will be available as an app (for both Adroid and iOS devices) early next year. It is already available via a website that has information on heart failure, stories from members and more.
Members of the social network can connect with other people with heart failure and can access information on heart failure and how to manage the disease. Caregivers will also receive information on their health and well-being.
The American Association of Heart Failure Nurses, Association of Black Cardiologists and CardioSmart by the American College of Cardiology partnered with Novartis on the project. Mended Hearts, WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease and the National Alliance for Caregiving are also partners.
In July, Novartis said it planned on spending an additional $200 million this year to increase the sales of sacubitril/valsartan (Entresto). The FDA approved sacubitril/valsartan in July 2015 as a twice-daily oral medication to treat patients with heart failure. The company also announced in May a program that will include more than 40 clinical trials that will examine the safety, efficacy and real world outcomes of patients with heart failure who receive sacubitril/valsartan
So far, the sales of sacubitril/valsartan have fallen short of expectations, although Novartis said it expects $200 million in sales from the medication this year. The company has also received positive news in the past few months about the drug’s effectiveness.
The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association and Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) released guidelines in May that gave a class I recommendation to sacubitril/valsartan.
At the HFSA scientific meeting in September, researchers presented two post-hoc analyses that found patients with heart failure who received sacubitril/valsartan had lower reductions in health-related quality of life and lower risks of cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization.
Executive Editor
Tim Casey joined TriMed Media Group in 2015 as Executive Editor. For the previous four years, he worked as an editor and writer for HMP Communications, primarily focused on covering managed care issues and reporting from medical and health care conferences. He was also a staff reporter at the Sacramento Bee for more than four years covering professional, college and high school sports. He earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Notre Dame and his MBA degree from Georgetown University.