Phase III VICTORIA study of vericiguat for chronic heart failure is initiated.- Bayer HealthCare and Merck Inc.

Bayer announced that the first patient was enrolled in VICTORIA, a pivotal Phase III clinical study led by Bayer�s collaboration partner MSD, which will investigate vericiguat in patients suffering from chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Vericiguat, discovered at Bayer, is the first soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator to be evaluated in patients with deteriorating chronic heart failure. The development and commercialization of vericiguat is part of the worldwide strategic collaboration between Bayer and MSD (through a subsidiary) in the field of sGC modulation.

The event-driven Phase III VICTORIA study will assess the efficacy and safety of vericiguat up to 10 mg once daily compared to placebo (on background standard of care treatment) in reducing the risk of cardiovascular death or HF hospitalization in patients with HFrEF following HF hospitalization or receiving an intravenous diuretic without hospitalization. The primary efficacy outcome is the time to first occurrence of the composite endpoint of cardiovascular mortality or HF hospitalization. VICTORIA will enroll approximately 4,900 patients at 530 centres in 39 countries and it is anticipated that the study will take 39 months to complete. VICTORIA is conducted in partnership with the Canadian VIGOUR Centre (CVC) at the University of Alberta and the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).