Prognostic Benefit of New Drugs for HFrEF: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

The new heart failure (HF) therapies of sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2i), vericiguat, and omecamtiv mecarbil do not act primarily through the neuro-hormonal blockade, but have shown clinical benefits in patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, their respective efficacies remain unclear. Our aim was to evaluate the relative efficacy of new drugs for HFrEF.

We performed a network meta-analysis (NMA) of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing SGLT2i, vericiguat, omecamtiv mecarbil, and placebo in HFrEF patients. The primary endpoint was the composite of cardiovascular death (CVD) or HF hospitalization (CVD-HF); secondary endpoints were CVD, all-cause death, and HF hospitalization (HFH).

Twelve RCTs (n = 23,861 patients) were included. A significant reduction in CVD-HF was observed with SGLT2i compared with placebo (risk ratio (RR) 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71-0.83), vericiguat (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.75-0.93), and omecamtiv mecarbil (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.72-0.88). No significant difference was observed between vericiguat and omecamtiv mecarbil (RR 0.95, 95% CI 0.87-1.04). SGLT2i were superior to placebo and omecamtiv mecarbil for all individual secondary endpoints (CVD, all-cause death, and HFH), and also to vericiguat for HFH. SGLT2i ranked as the most effective therapy for all endpoints, and vericiguat, omecamtiv mecarbil, and placebo ranked as the second, third, and last options, respectively, for the primary endpoint.

In patients with HFrEF on standard-of-care therapy, SGLT2i therapy was associated with a reduced risk of CVD-HF compared to placebo, vericiguat, and omecamtiv mecarbil. Furthermore, SGLT2i were superior to placebo and omecamtiv mecarbil for CVD, all-cause death, and HFH, and also to vericiguat for HFH.