CARE-HK in HF is designed to evaluate the use of Veltassa® in enabling patients to remain on RAASi therapy in HF patients with or at high risk for HK
Topline results are anticipated in 2024

ST. GALLEN, SWITZERLAND-- April 28, 2021 -- Regulatory News:

Vifor Pharma today announced that the first patient has been enrolled in the large scale registry CARE-HK in HF (cardiovascular and renal treatment in HF patients with or at high risk for HK). This non-interventional clinical study aims to better understand renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi) treatment decisions in clinical practice, potential barriers to achieving optimal guideline-directed care in HF patients with or at high risk for HK, and to assess how Veltassa® may be used in the management of this patient population.

“One of the most pressing issues in management of chronic heart failure is that therapies that have proven to reduce the risk of death and hospitalizations, and are thus strongly recommended by the guidelines, are not optimally used in clinical practice. This is certainly the case with RAASi, which are under-used in many patients, especially those with or at high risk of hyperkalemia,” said Dr. Mikhail Kosiborod, cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, Vice President of Research at Saint Luke’s Health System and Professor of Medicine at University of Missouri-Kansas City. “CARE-HK in HF will investigate the patterns of RAASi use, and barriers to treatment optimization, and examine whether adherence to guidelines is associated with improved real-world outcomes. This data from a large, international, prospective registry - the first of its kind to focus on this vulnerable patient group - will be very useful in future efforts to optimize the quality of care.”

Dr. Stefan Anker, Professor at Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin, Germany, added: “Hyperkalemia is frequent in HF patients and when a patient experienced it for the first time, there is a high likelihood to experience it again. Hyperkalemia is too rarely managed effectively. Taking care of hyperkalemia chronically may be the key to increase our ability to treat more patients with guideline recommended therapies such as RAASi and MRAs to meet the therapeutic goals. By learning from the CARE-HK in HF registry about the RAASi treatment patterns and the management of hyperkalemia, we may improve the current clinical practice for our HF patients with or at high risk of HK.”

Dr. Klaus Henning Jensen, Chief Medical Officer Vifor Pharma commented: “I am very pleased about the enrollment of the first patient in the CARE-HK in HF registry, which to date is the most important commitment in real-world evidence to evaluate RAASi therapy in combination with the use of Veltassa®. CARE-HK in HF will help the medical community to better understand the potential value of Veltassa® in treating hyperkalemia. We are looking forward to quickly ramping up enrollment to meet interest from participating hospitals and physicians.”