Thousands of NHS patients to benefit from new daily pill for inherited heart condition

Thousands of people living with a serious inherited heart condition in England are set to benefit from a new once-daily treatment after it received simultaneous approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and a recommendation from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for routine NHS use.

The medicine, aficamten (brand name Myqorzo), is approved for adults with symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM), a condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick, restricting blood flow from the heart. Symptoms can include breathlessness, chest pain, dizziness, palpitations and fainting, while the condition can also increase the risk of heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms.

NICE estimates that around 6,600 people in England could be eligible for the treatment. Aficamten belongs to a class of medicines known as cardiac myosin inhibitors, which work by reducing the excessive contraction of the heart muscle, helping to improve blood flow and relieve symptoms.

The decision marks one of the first coordinated approvals under closer collaboration between the MHRA and NICE, allowing regulatory approval and NHS funding recommendations to be announced at the same time. The aim is to reduce delays between a medicine being licensed and becoming available to eligible NHS patients.

Aficamten is the second cardiac myosin inhibitor to be made available through the NHS for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. NICE said it offers a further treatment option for patients and may require fewer echocardiograms during dose adjustment than existing therapy, potentially reducing the number of hospital appointments needed early in treatment.

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