Vericiguat (Merck/Bayer), among the latest drugs to gain cred in heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), significantly benefits patients who are highly adherent to standard-of-care (SOC) HF meds, suggests a new VICTORIA trial analysis.

The novel agent seemed to improve the primary endpoint on top of the entire slate of SOC agents, individually and when they were combined as guidelines recommend.

The research, reported earlier this week at the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting 2020, also hinted at potential clinical-outcomes synergy between vericiguat and a drug class that is a cornerstone of HF medical management.

The findings argue against misgivings that recent and any future additions to the HF armamentarium could be therapeutically redundant or add to patients’ daily pill burden and potential for side effects without much incremental benefit.

There is as yet little evidence for such an effect; also, vericiguat and