Novartis’ Entresto recommended in new EU and US heart failure guidelines

Novartis' Entresto has been recommended in new clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of heart failure.

Updated guidelines simultaneously released by the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the Heart Failure Society of America and the European Society of Cardiology have given the drug a strong Class I recommendation.

In the US, Entresto is now recommended a standard therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) as an alternative to an ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker, with the guidelines calling for doctors to switch HFrEF patients with mild to moderate symptoms to Entresto.

The European guidance also recommends doctors switch HFrEF patients to Entresto if they meet criteria established by PARADIGM-HF, the largest heart failure trial ever.

Entresto has received the strongest endorsement in these new clinical practice guidelines only a year after its initial regulatory approvals.

Vas Narasimhan, global head of development and chief medical officer for Novartis, said: "We know patients with heart failure suffer reduced quality of life and remain at high risk of hospitalisation or death, and these new guidelines are a strong call to action to ensure patients receive the most effective therapies."