Bayer HealthCare reports positive long-term riociguat data

Bayer HealthCare has announced interim results from a long-term extension study of the drug riociguat that demonstrates the prolonged benefits it can offer to pulmonary arterial hypertension patients.

Results from the ongoing Patent-2 trial have supported the positive findings of the earlier phase III Patent-1 study, with Bayer's drug providing long-term safety and sustained clinical improvements.

Riociguat was shown to be well tolerated with a strong safety profile in both treatment-naïve and pre-treated patients, while also demonstrating improvements in six-minute walking distance and functional class.

The drug is a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator and the first member of a novel class of compounds being investigated as a means of treating different types of pulmonary hypertension.

Kemal Malik, member of the Bayer HealthCare executive committee and head of global development, said: "We are confident that together these results reinforce the role of riociguat, if approved, as a new treatment in the armamentarium against pulmonary arterial hypertension."

Earlier this month, the company announced the commencement of Resorce, a phase III clinical trial assessing the drug regorafenib in the treatment of advanced liver cancer.