Vericiguat, a novel stimulator of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), is indicated for the treatment of patients following a hospitalization for heart failure or need for outpatient intravenous diuretics, with symptomatic chronic heart failure and ejection fraction less than 45%. Pharmacokinetic (PK) data from the phase II trial SOCRATES-REDUCED (Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Stimulator in Heart Failure Study) and the phase III trial VICTORIA (Vericiguat Global Study in Patients With Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction) were used to characterize vericiguat PK. A total of 8,092 concentration records from 2,321 participants (362 from SOCRATES-REDUCED and 1,959 from VICTORIA) were utilized for the development of the population PK model. The final PK model was a one-compartment model with first-order absorption and linear elimination. Baseline body weight and time-varying body weight were identified as statistically significant covariates affecting apparent clearance (CL/F) and volume of distribution, respectively. Age, sex, race, bilirubin, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and albumin did not affect vericiguat PK. Baseline disease-related factors, such as left ventricular ejection fraction, New York Heart Association (NYHA) class, and N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide, also did not influence vericiguat PK. Since vericiguat is a titrated drug, the impact of vericiguat PK on the titration to and maintenance of the target dose in VICTORIA was assessed. The distribution of steady-state doses in VICTORIA was similar across CL/F quartiles, suggesting that the ability to reach and maintain dosing at the target 10-mg dose was not related to vericiguat exposure.

By, Maria E Trujillo, Leticia Arrington, Yogesh Patel, Julie Passarell, Larissa Wenning, Robert O Blaustein, Paul W Armstrong, Michaela Meyer, Corina Becker, and Ferdous Gheyas