For patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonia-associated pulmonary hypertension, treatment with riociguat (Adempas) was not beneficial to placebo, and increased adverse events, according to a phase 2b clinical trial.
The phase 2b trial was terminated early due to a higher incidence of deaths, serious adverse events and adverse event-related drug discontinuations in patients treated with riociguat (Adempas, Bayer) vs. placebo, researchers wrote in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
Notably, serious adverse events were more common in the riociguat group than in the placebo group (37% vs. 23%), including worsening of interstitial lung disease (8% vs. 7%) and pneumonia (5% vs. 1%).
