Drug news
NICE positive for Procoralan (Servier) for Heart Failure
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has now published final draft guidance recommending Procoralan (ivabradine) from Servier Labs, as an option for treating Chronic Heart Failure, specified as NYHA class II to IVi. It has, however, stipulated that the drug should only be used in patients with systolic dysfunction, those who are in sinus rhythm, when the heart rate is 75 beats per minute or more, and for those who have a left ventricular ejection fraction of 35% or less.
The draft guidelines also state that Procoralan should be taken with standard therapy, such as including beta-blockers or angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, or when a patient is unable to take/tolerate beta-blockers.