Comparing the Efficacy and Safety of Vericiguat With Standard Medical Treatment in Heart Failure Patients (VERICIGUAT)

Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) remains a major cause of morbidity, mortality, and healthcare utilization despite advances in guideline-directed medical therapy. Patients who experience worsening heart failure events, including hospitalization or the need for urgent outpatient treatment, remain at increased risk of recurrent cardiovascular events and represent a high-risk population requiring additional therapeutic strategies.

The nitric oxide-soluble guanylate cyclase (NO-sGC)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway plays an important role in maintaining cardiovascular function. In heart failure, endothelial dysfunction and reduced nitric oxide bioavailability may impair this pathway, contributing to vascular dysfunction, myocardial remodeling, and disease progression.

Vericiguat is an oral soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator that enhances cGMP production by directly stimulating soluble guanylate cyclase and increasing its sensitivity to endogenous nitric oxide. This mechanism provides a novel therapeutic approach that differs from conventional heart failure treatments targeting neurohormonal pathways.

Previous clinical evidence, including the VICTORIA trial, demonstrated that vericiguat reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or first hospitalization for heart failure among patients with chronic heart failure and recent worsening heart failure events. However, further evaluation of its effectiveness and safety in specific clinical settings and populations remains important.

This randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of vericiguat in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction receiving standard medical therapy. The study aims to determine whether the addition of vericiguat provides further clinical benefit compared with standard therapy alone in this high-risk patient population.