VERQUVO? : New Prevention for Heart Failure
Written by Daron Assatoury, Gurvardaan Bal, Neil Messian
Earlier this year, a drug developed by Merck called VERQUVO? , nicknamed “vericiguat”, was approved by the FDA for clinical use. This drug is designed to counteract both chronic heart failure and post-op symptoms while utilizing IV saline drips, and has a promising future in the healthcare market both as a product and as a treatment option.
The drug has currently only been approved for a small group of high-risk patients, but Merck aims to expand further into the market space for chronic heart failure medication. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of VERQUVO? both as a pharmacological medication and as a business product while also considering its downsides to determine its practicality in the clinical market and whether it will become lucrative.
VERQUVO? is one of countless heart medications; however, it sets itself apart by being significantly more effective than many leading drugs on the market. An FDA study shows that taking a VERQUVO? treatment results in 3% less hospitalizations. The U.S. has over 900,000 cases of heart failure hospitalizations per year, so every percentage point counts; taking VERQUVO? as opposed to other drugs could save about 30,000 people from being hospitalized per year.
Of course, taking into consideration a market as saturated as heart failure treatment, prospects may seem slim: the drug is specialized for people post-operation and IV-dependent individuals. What must be considered, however, is that most hospitalizations result in patients having to undergo further recovery treatment? a fact that Joerg Koglin, VP of global clinical development at Merck, sees as a “meaningful addition to the treatment armamentarium for heart failure physicians (Fierce Pharmacy).”
Though the field is competitive, VERQUVO? focuses on a reliable niche of patients that will always have a need for post-surgery treatment, and therefore sees no need to compete with other leading heart medications on the market even into the foreseeable future.
From an economic standpoint, VERQUVO? has already shown promise under its original developer Bayer, where it reached almost one billion Euros in sales, equating to about 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. The market for the drug shows a clear projection upward as new and developed treatments increase the lifespan of the elder population. The market is expected to increase from $3.7 billion to $22.1 billion, almost a 600% increase. Any small benefit is exponential regarding cardiac care, and with a market as large as this, every bit of growth can contribute to impressive gains in the future.
In conclusion, VERQUVO? is a promising drug, and though the market might be difficult to breach, its specialized client base will allow it to maintain its place in healthcare and can allow it to increase the profit margin for Merck. The future of cardiac treatment may build off the technology used in VERQUVO?, leading to future gains in the field.
Further Reading:
https://www.merck.com/news/merck-announces-u-s-fda-approval-of-VERQUVO?-vericiguat/
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-approvals-and-databases/drug-trials-snapshot-VERQUVO?
https://www.clinicaltrialsarena.com/projects/VERQUVO?-vericiguat/
https://geneonline.news/en/merck-and-bayer-enter-the-congested-market-of-heart-failure-with-verquvo/