Vericiguat and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Heart Failure by Baseline Diabetes Status: Insights From the VICTORIA Trial

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) significantly worsens heart failure (HF) prognosis.

This study sought to investigate the impact of T2DM on outcomes in patients enrolled in VICTORIA and assess the efficacy of vericiguat in patients with and without T2DM.

Patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction were randomized to receive vericiguat or placebo in addition to standard therapy. The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death or first heart failure hospitalization (HFH). A Cox proportional hazards model was used to calculate HRs and 95% CIs to assess if the effect of vericiguat differed by history of T2DM.

Of 5,050 patients enrolled, 3,683 (72.9%) had glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) measured at baseline. Of these, 2,270 (61.6%) had T2DM, 741 (20.1%) had pre-T2DM, 449 (12.2%) did not have T2DM, and 178 (4.8%) had undiagnosed T2DM. The risks of the primary outcome, HFH, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality were high across all categories. The efficacy of vericiguat on the primary outcome did not differ in patients stratified by T2DM by history (HR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.81-1.04), T2DM measured by HbA_1c (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.49-1.20), and pre-T2DM measured by HbA_1c (HR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.68-1.13) and in those with normoglycemia (HR: 1.02: 95% CI: 0.75-1.39; P for interaction = 0.752). No significant differences were observed in subgroups with respect to the efficacy of vericiguat on HFH and all-cause or cardiovascular death.

In this post hoc analysis of VICTORIA, vericiguat compared with placebo significantly reduced the risk of cardiovascular death or HFH in patients with worsening HF with reduced ejection fraction regardless of T2DM status. (A Study of Vericiguat in Participants With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction [HFrEF] [Mk-1242-001] [VICTORIA]; NCT02861534).