New drug set to benefit 100,000 people with common heart condition.

Wed 27 APRIL 2016 – NHS England – NICE gives green light to new drug set to benefit 100,000 people with common heart condition

Sacubitril valsartan for chronic heart failure has been recommended as a new heart failure drug sacubitril valsartan (Entresto, Novartis), the first drug of its type, as an option for some people with heart failure.

Guidance recommends the £3 per day treatment for this life-threatening condition which affects over 100,000 people with moderate to severe symptoms in whose heart is only able to pump a reduced amount of oxygenated blood around the body (called – reduced ejection fractionii), and whose heart failure is not controlled by the commonly used drugs, ACE inhibitors or ARBs.

Treatment with sacubitril valsartan is estimated to cost about £1,200 per person per year.