Drug reduces hospitalizations, improves survival of heart failure patients
The largest heart failure study ever done to date showed that patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction who were given Sacubitril-Valsartan were more likely to be alive and less likely to have been hospitalized for sudden deterioration of their heart failure than those given the current standard of treatment, the ACE-inhibitor enalapril.
Sacubitril-Valsartan is the first and only treatment to show a significant mortality benefit of reducing heart failure deaths in a head-to-head trial against enalapril.
Heart failure is a serious life-threatening condition in which the heart weakens and cannot pump enough blood to fully meet the oxygen demand of the body.
Over time, if not treated properly, heart failure leads to severe fatigue, breathlessness, damage particularly to the heart, kidneys and liver, and ultimately death.
Developed by research-based Swiss healthcare company Novartis, Sacubitril-Valsartan is a twicedaily oral pill that provides a novel strategy for treating heart failure. It amplifies the natural defense response of the heart, while simultaneously suppressing the harmful effects of the body’s hormone system, ultimately leading to reduced strain on the cardiovascular system.
“The landmark Paradigm-HF Trial is the most geographically diverse heart failure trial ever conducted and studied the optimally treated patient population with the standard heart failure drugs.
This international study involving 8,442 patients included Asian patients of which 200 are Filipinos and therefore it can suggest that the beneficial effects can be applied to local patients,” said Romeo Divinagracia, president and professor emeritus in medicine, University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center.
“Sacubitril-Valsartan reduced the risk of death from cardiovascular causes by 20 percent, reduced heart failure hospitalizations by 21 percent, and reduced the risk of all-cause mortality (all deaths that occurred in patients in the study, regardless of the cause) by 16 percent. Overall there was a 20 percent risk reduction in cardiovascular death or heart failure hospitalization,” said Antonio Sibulo Jr., national leader of the Paradigm-HF Trial in the Philippines and Principal Investigator of other heart failure trials. “With the Philippine launch of Sacubitril-Valsartan, patients in the country diagnosed with reduced ejection fraction heart failure now have a much greater opportunity to live longer and stay out of hospital.”
The two experts spoke during the Philippine launch of sacubitril/valsartan.
The launch was held in conjunction with a scientific meeting organized by Novartis Healthcare Philippines last April 21, at the Crowne Plaza Manila Galleria in Ortigas Center, Quezon City. Entitled “Advancing Care, Inspiring Change, Taking Actions,” the scientific meeting was attended by local cardiologists, internists and other medical specialists.