New Pharmacotherapeutic Classes for the Management of Heart Failure: A Narrative Review

TL;DR

This paper reviews new heart failure medications like vericiguat and omecamtiv mecarbil, focusing on their effectiveness and safety compared to traditional treatments.

Contribution

The paper provides a focused review of newer pharmacotherapeutic agents for heart failure with an emphasis on their clinical trial outcomes.

Findings

Vericiguat, omecamtiv mecarbil, ularitide, and serelaxin show potential efficacy in treating heart failure.

More long-term studies are needed to compare these newer drugs with conventional treatments.

Safety profiles of these medications are discussed based on clinical trial data.

Abstract

Heart failure (HF) is a syndrome characterized by the heart failing to pump blood to the body at a rate proportional to its needs. HF is a public health burden globally and one of the leading causes of hospitalizations in adults. While many classes of drugs have been introduced for the treatment of HF, not every drug may be well-tolerated by patients. In this narrative review, we describe a few of the newer classes of medications proposed to be efficacious in treating acute and chronic HF. We focus on vericiguat, omecamtiv mecarbil, ularitide, and serelaxin, and thoroughly examine their efficacy and safety profiles while summarizing the clinical trials of the drugs. There is a need for more long-term studies comparing the efficacy of these medications to the conventional ones.