Novartis' Entresto given strong Class I recommendation in both US and EU heart failure guidelines

US guidelines now recommend Entresto as standard of care for HFrEF as an alternative to ACEs or ARBs.

In the US, Entresto is now a standard therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) as an alternative to an ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker, given together with a beta blocker and an aldosterone antagonist. In addition, the guidelines call for doctors to switch HFrEF patients with mild to moderate symptoms from ACEs or ARBs to Entresto.

"These strong, swift and broad recommendations by US cardiology organizations, redefine the standard of care for how reduced ejection fraction heart failure is treated," said Vas Narasimhan, Global Head of Development and Chief Medical Officer for Novartis. "We know patients with heart failure suffer reduced quality of life and remain at high risk of hospitalization or death, and these new guidelines are a strong call to action to ensure patients receive the most effective therapies."

In the EU, the ESC HF guidelines recommend doctors switch HFrEF patients meeting the PARADIGM-HF criteria to Entresto from an ACE or ARB. Both guideline committees considered evidence from PARADIGM-HF, the largest heart failure trial ever, which showed Entresto significantly reduced deaths from cardiovascular causes and heart failure hospitalizations in patients with HFrEF.

Heart failure is a debilitating and life-threatening condition, which impacts over 60 million people worldwide[4]. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people over the age of 65. About half of people with heart failure have HFrEF. Reduced ejection fraction means the heart does not contract with enough force, so less blood is pumped out. Heart failure presents a major and growing health-economic burden that currently costs the world economy $108 billion every year.

Novartis has established the largest global clinical program in the heart failure disease area across the pharma industry to date, FortiHFy, comprising over 40 active or planned clinical studies designed to generate an array of additional data on symptom reduction, efficacy, quality of life benefits and real world evidence with Entresto, as well as to extend understanding of heart failure.