US cardiologists attitudes to vernakalant and ranolazine Rxing

US cardiologists surveyed by health care advisory firm Decision Resources indicate that they would prescribe Cardiome/Merck’s oral vernakalant and Gilead/Menarini’s ranolazine to 13% of their atrial fibrillation patients. Additionally, these agents are forecast to capture a similar patient share of 10% in the USA by 2020.

“Several components of vernakalant’s mechanism of action could ensure that it yields strong atrial-selective effects, which would reduce the risk of adverse events arising from off-target effects on the ventricles and confer an important competitive advantage over currently available oral antiarrhythmics,” said Decision Resources analyst Conor Walsh, noting: “Additionally, we expect the uptake of ranolazine will be due to its strong safety profile and clinical data indicating its notable antiarrhythmic efficacy.”

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