House Call: VICTORIA, ACC 2020 Recap

New phase 3 findings from the VICTORIA trial, presented virtually at the ACC.20 Together with Word Congress of Cardiology (ACC/WCC) Scientific Sessions in March, showed the investigative therapy vericiguat reduced hospitalization or death due to heart failure over 11 months by 10% in patients with high risk of either outcome.

The results, presented by Paul W. Armstrong, MD, distinguished university professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Alberta, showed vericiguat was associated with a 4.2-year absolute risk reduction of composite events per 100 patient-years.

Such a benefit is significant given the patient population, Armstrong said—and is amplified by the fact that few therapies have been shown to aid high-risk heart failure patients.

In an interview with HCPLive® following ACC 2020, Armstrong discussed at length the VICTORIA findings, the novel compound vericiguat and its benefit in treating a previously-untreated pathway in heart failure patients, and his thoughts on the virtual meeting’s highlights.

“From the standpoint of learning on mechanisms that might point us in one direction or another, we’ve got some work to do still,” Armstrong said. “We’ve got a great group of investigators around the world, and we’re very active in pursuing this.”

Walker expressed hope the next development of vericiguat findings are indicative of greater benefit for the high-risk patient population—and are able to be shared in either an in-person or virtual meeting soon.