Omecamtiv mecarbil is associated with significant benefits for patients with severe heart failure (HF), according to new data published in JAMA Cardiology.
The study's authors examined data from 8,232 patients enrolled in the GALACTIC-HF trial, which ran from January 2017 to August 2020. A total of 2,258 patients presented with severe HF. Seventy-eight percent of them were men, and the mean patient age was 64.5 years old.
Patients were randomized to either receive omecamtiv mecarbil or a placebo.
The primary endpoint was time to first HF event or cardiovascular (CV) death. The median follow-up period was 21.8 months.
Overall, patients with severe HF who were prescribed omecamtiv mecarbil saw a 20% reduction in their time to first HF event. Similar results were observed for CV death.
Patients given omecamtiv mecarbil also experienced no substantial fluctuations in blood pressure, kidney function or potassium levels compared to patients given the placebo.
“As HF progresses, many patients become progressively intolerant of neurohormonal blockade with β-blockers or renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system modulators because of hypotension or kidney dysfunction, limiting their options for medical therapy,” wrote lead author G. Michael Felker, MD, with the division of cardiology at Duke University School of Medicine in North Carolina, and colleagues. “Selected patients with severe HF may be candidates for other therapies, such as cardiac transplant or mechanical cardiac support, but these therapies are costly and highly invasive and have limited availability. Intravenous inotropic therapy can be used for palliation of symptoms among selected patients but may be associated with increased mortality. Thus, there is a clear unmet need for effective and safe long-term medical therapies for the treatment of patients with more severe stages of HF.”
This analysis was funded by Cytokinetics, Amgen and Servier Laboratories, three companies that have collaborated on the development of omecamtiv mecarbil. Multiple study authors, including Felker, reported receiving grants or personal fees from these companies.
Read the entire study here.