Novartis' Entresto gets strongest endorsement in both US and EU heart failure guidelines

Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan), from Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX), has been given a Class I recommendation, the strongest endorsement, in updated clinical practice guidelines simultaneously released by the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) in the US, and the European Society of Cardiology in the European Union.

In the USA, Entresto is now a standard therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) as an alternative to an ACE inhibitor or an angiotensin II receptor blocker, given together with a beta blocker and an aldosterone antagonist. In addition, the guidelines call for doctors to switch HFrEF patients with mild to moderate symptoms from ACEs or ARBs to Entresto.

The new guidelines are expected to provide a much needed boost for the drug, given Entresto's sluggish sales so far. Novartis has touted Entresto as an eventual $5 billion-a-year seller, but first-quarter sales were just $17 million and the company now forecasts 2016 sales of a modest $200 million, well below initial analyst forecasts.