NATRECOR has been studied in 11 clinical trials including 4505 patients with HF (NYHA class II–III 56%, NYHA class IV 27%; mean age 64 years, women 32%). There were six randomized, multi-center, placebo- or active-controlled studies (comparative agents included nitroglycerin, dobutamine, milrinone, nitroprusside, or dopamine) in which 4269 patients with decompensated HF received continuous infusions of NATRECOR at doses ranging from 0.01 to 0.03 mcg/kg/min. Of these patients, the majority (n=3358, 79%) received the NATRECOR infusion for at least 24 hours; 2182 (51%) received NATRECOR for 24 to 48 hours, and 1176 (28%) received NATRECOR for greater than 48 hours.
In the initial five of these six controlled trials, NATRECOR was used alone or in conjunction with other standard therapies, including diuretics (79%), digoxin (62%), oral ACE inhibitors (55%), anticoagulants (38%), oral nitrates (32%), statins (18%), class III antiarrhythmic agents (16%), beta-blockers (15%), dobutamine (15%), calcium channel blockers (11%), angiotensin II receptor antagonists (6%), and dopamine (4%).
In the ASCEND-HF trial (Acute Study of Clinical Effectiveness of Nesiritide in patients with Decompensated Heart Failure), NATRECOR was used alone or in conjunction with other standard therapies. Most patients (99.4%) received diuretic medications in conjunction with NATRECOR, with the most commonly used diuretic being furosemide (55%). The following standard therapies were used in ≥2% of patients: beta-blockers (72%), aspirin (64%); oral ACE inhibitors (60%), statins (50%), aldosterone antagonists (48%), digoxin/digitalis glycoside (39%), oral or topical nitrates (30%), oral anticoagulants (29%), clopidogrel/thienopyridine (21%), angiotensin receptor antagonists (19%), antiarrhythmic agents (16%), IV nitroglycerin (16%); calcium channel blockers (13%), hydralazine (11%), dobutamine (8%), dopamine (5%), alpha blockers (4%), IV opiates (5%), and NSAIDs (4%). The following standard therapies were used in <2% of patients: COX2 inhibitors, milrinone, epinephrine, levosimendan, nitroprusside, norepinephrine, phenylephrine, and vasopressin.
NATRECOR has been studied in a broad range of patients, including the elderly (53% >65 years of age), women (33%), minorities (17% black), and patients with a history of significant morbidities such as hypertension (71%), previous myocardial infarction (38%), diabetes (43%), atrial fibrillation/flutter (37%), ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation (10%), and preserved systolic function (20%). In trials other than the ASCEND-HF trial, NATRECOR was also studied in patients with nonsustained ventricular tachycardia (25%) and patients with acute coronary syndromes less than 7 days before the start of NATRECOR (4%).
The VMAC (Vasodilation in the Management of Acute Congestive Heart Failure) trial was a randomized, double-blind study of 489 patients (246 patients requiring a right heart catheter, 243 patients without a right heart catheter) who required hospitalization for management of shortness of breath at rest due to acutely decompensated HF. The study compared the effects of NATRECOR, placebo, and IV nitroglycerin when added to background therapy (IV and oral diuretics, non-IV cardiac medications, dobutamine, and dopamine). Patients with acute coronary syndrome, preserved systolic function, arrhythmia, and renal impairment were not excluded. The primary endpoints of the study were the change from baseline in PCWP and the change from baseline in patients' dyspnea, evaluated after three hours. Close attention was also paid to the occurrence and persistence of hypotension, given nesiritide's relatively long (compared to nitroglycerin) PK and PD half-life.
NATRECOR was administered as a 2 mcg/kg bolus over approximately 60 seconds, followed by a continuous fixed dose infusion of 0.01 mcg/kg/min. After the 3-hour placebo-controlled period, patients receiving placebo crossed over to double-blinded active therapy with either NATRECOR or nitroglycerin. The nitroglycerin dose was titrated at the physician's discretion. A subset of patients in the VMAC trial with central hemodynamic monitoring who were treated with NATRECOR (62 of 124 patients) were allowed dose increases of NATRECOR after the first 3 hours of treatment if the PCWP was ≥20 mm Hg and the SBP was ≥100 mm Hg. Dose increases of a 1 mcg/kg bolus followed by an increase of the infusion dose by 0.005 mcg/kg/min were allowed every 3 hours, up to a maximum dose of 0.03 mcg/kg/min. Overall, 23 patients in this subset had the dose of NATRECOR increased in the VMAC trial.
In the VMAC study, patients receiving NATRECOR reported greater improvement in their dyspnea at 3 hours than patients receiving placebo (p=0.034).
In the dose-response study, patients receiving both doses of NATRECOR reported greater improvement in dyspnea at 6 hours than patients receiving placebo.
NATRECOR was also studied in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, multicenter trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of NATRECOR compared with placebo in patients with ADHF, the ASCEND-HF Study. The study was divided into a screening phase, a double-blind treatment phase, and a follow-up phase, including a Day 30 visit and a telephone contact at Day 180. Patients who qualified for the study were ≥18 years of age, hospitalized for the management of ADHF or diagnosed with ADHF within 48 hours after being hospitalized for another reason. They were randomized to receive either NATRECOR as a continuous IV infusion at 0.010 mcg/kg/min with or without an initial 2 mcg/kg bolus (at the discretion of the physician) or a matching placebo bolus and infusion.
The primary objective of ASCEND-HF was to evaluate whether treatment with NATRECOR compared to placebo improved patient outcomes (as measured by a reduction in the composite of HF rehospitalization and all-cause mortality from randomization through Day 30) or HF symptoms (as measured by patient self-assessed Likert dyspnea scale which included Markedly Better, Moderately Better, Minimally Better, No Change, Minimally Worse, Moderately Worse and Markedly Worse at 6 hours and 24 hours after NATRECOR initiation).
A total of 7141 patients were randomized of which 7007 patients took at least one dose of study medication (modified intent-to-treat population) and received treatment for 24 to 168 hours (7 days), if the patient's clinical condition warranted continued treatment for dyspnea or pulmonary congestion, at the physician's discretion. The median treatment duration was 42.9 hours for the placebo group and 40.8 hours for the NATRECOR group. The patients' mean age was 65.5 years. The patient population was 65.8% male, 55.9% Caucasian, 24.7% Asian and 15.1% Black or African American.
The incidence rate for the composite of HF rehospitalization and all-cause mortality from randomization through Day 30 was 9.4% in the NATRECOR group compared with 10.1% in the placebo group. The difference was not statistically significant (p=0.313). The self-assessed dyspnea results did not meet the pre-specified criteria for statistical significance (p ≤0.005 for both or p ≤0.0025 for either) at either time point.
A total of 273 deaths were reported during the first 30 days after therapy and 876 (12.5%) deaths were reported from randomization through Day 180, 429 (12.3%) patients in the NATRECOR group and 447 (12.7%) patients in the placebo group. Approximately 65% of the deaths at 180 days were cardiovascular (mostly worsening heart failure). There was no statistically significant difference between treatment groups (p=0.5).