VIDEO: Omecamtiv mecarbil improves cardiac function, size in COSMIC-HF trial

ORLANDO, Fla. — In this video, John R. Teerlink, MD, discusses the results of the COSMIC-HF trial, which he presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions.

The trial assessed the safety, efficacy and tolerability of omecamtiv mecarbil, a novel selective cardiac myosin activator.

Teerlink, from the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues hypothesized that the drug could be administered in a way that produced efficacy signals and reliable pharmacokinetics in patients with chronic HF. The trial included two phases: a dose-escalation phase involving approximately 90 patients, and a dose expansion phase involving 448 patients.

The researchers observed "very reliable" pharmacokinetics, along with significant improvement to systolic ejection time, which Teerlink said translated into improvements to stroke volume and ejection fraction. Patients also exhibited significant improvements to left ventricular end-diastolic and end-systolic dimensions, as well as ventricular volumes, a physiologic reduction in heart rate and a significant decrease to NT-proBNP.

"All of these together resulted in findings that suggested omecamtiv mecarbil was truly able to improve myocardial performance in these patients," Teerlink said.

He also noted that there was no increase in adverse events, serious adverse events, mortality or rehospitalization among patients treated with omecamtiv mecarbil compared with placebo. "We're very encouraged by these findings, and want to advance them into a phase 3, large-scale outcomes trial," Teerlink added.