Advancing Care for Patients Suffering from Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF)
Heart Failure with reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF) is a chronic, progressive syndrome where the heart’s left ventricle is unable to effectively pump blood around the body, leading to inadequate perfusion of vital organs like the brain, liver, kidneys
and intestine. Because of this, it is often described as a multi-organ condition.
HFrEF is defined by a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of ≤40%, and is regularly associated with corresponding structural changes such as ventricular dilation and adverse cardiac remodelling.
For patients, HFrEF leads to a dire quality of life and frequent hospitalization. HFrEF’s common symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue and fluid accumulation, impair patients’ abilities to live normal lives, while massively increasing their mortality risk.
Globally, HFrEF is a relatively common condition which accounts for around half of the estimated 64 million total cases of heart failure.
Its prevalence continues to rise due to aging populations and improved survival after myocardial infarction (heart attack).
In Europe, it is estimated that more than 6 million adults live with heart failure, with prevalence expected to substantially increase in the coming decades.
>6.7m
US American patients
Over 6.7m Americans over the age of 20 suffer from some form of heart failure
x2
economic burden
In Italy, patients with heart failure have nearly twice the health economic burden of those without heart failure
Annual cost
$340bn
As of 2020, the global cost of heart failure is thought to exceed $340bn per year
Despite significant medical advances, HFrEF remains a leading cause of hospitalization and death worldwide. Current treatments such as beta-blockers, ACE inhibitors, and SGLT2 inhibitors improve survival but do not fully halt disease progression, with many patients continuing to suffer persistent symptoms which impact their quality of life. Furthermore, treatment adherence and access remain major challenges, especially in low- and middle-income countries.
Novel therapies like those being developed by NanoPhoria – which target the underlying pathophysiology – are urgently needed to address these gaps.
The persistent burden of HFrEF underscores the need for next-generation therapies that: