Daily Medication Pearl: Vericiguat for Heart Failure

Medication Pearl of the Day: Vericiguat (Verquvo)

Vericiguat is a soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator indicated to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure (HF) emergency department visits following an initial hospitalization for HF or need for outpatient intravenous diuretics in adults with symptomatic chronic HF and ejection fraction less than 45%.

Insight:

• Dosing: The starting dose of vericiguat is 2.5 mg orally once daily with food.
• Dosage forms: Tablets: 2.5 mg, 5 mg, and 10 mg.
• Adverse events: Most common adverse reactions reported in ≥5% are hypotension and anemia.
• Drug interactions: PDE-5 Inhibitors: Concomitant use is not recommended.
• Mechanism of action: Vericiguat is a stimulator of sGC, an important enzyme in the nitric oxide (NO) signaling pathway. By directly stimulating sGC, independently of and synergistically with NO, vericiguat augments levels of intracellular cGMP, leading to smooth muscle relaxation and vasodilation.

Sources:

verquvo_pi (merck.com)

verquov image - Google Search