Heart Failure Drug Pipeline: 94 Assets by Phase

How many heart failure drugs are in each phase of development?

Douglas Insights counts 16 heart failure candidates in Phase III, 17% of the 94 assets in development; Phase II holds 38 and Phase I holds 40.

Phase I/II candidates sit in the Phase I row and Phase II/III candidates in the Phase II row, so each heart failure asset appears in exactly one row. The 353 trials still recruiting or running carry 37% of the 948 registered trials in scope.

Which approved heart failure medicines are still in trials?

6 medicines already on the market are still being tested in heart failure Phase IV trials; Dapagliflozin has the most, with 56 registered trials.

Post-approval heart failure trials test new doses, new patient groups and head-to-head comparisons. They set the standard of care that every candidate in development will be measured against, so the paid review profiles each one.

How many heart failure trials are recruiting patients now?

209 heart failure trials are recruiting patients and 80 more have not started recruiting yet, out of 948 interventional trials in scope; together they make up 30% of the trial base.

Terminated, suspended and withdrawn heart failure trials stay in the trial base so that a stalled programme is visible, but a candidate whose only trials stopped is no longer counted as in development.

Which companies lead the heart failure pipeline?

AstraZeneca leads the heart failure pipeline with 8 candidates; the top 5 sponsors hold 32% of the 94 assets, and 56 sponsors run at least one.

Industry sponsors lead 279 of the 948 heart failure trials (29%); universities, hospitals and public funders lead the rest. A sponsor is credited with an asset when it is the lead sponsor on most of that asset's industry trials.

Which drug types and mechanisms dominate the heart failure pipeline?

Mechanism and drug-type classification for the 94 heart failure candidates is done by the research desk asset by asset, each with a cited source, and is published in the paid review together with the white-space map.

What heart failure trial readouts are coming next?

14 heart failure candidates in Phase II or later have a registered primary completion date in the next 12 months; the next three are below, each linked to its registry record.

Primary completion is the date a sponsor expects the last patient to finish the main measurement, so data usually follow within months. Dates marked estimated are the sponsor's own forecast on the registry and often move.

How many heart failure readouts fall in each quarter?

23 heart failure candidates in Phase II or later reach registered primary completion over the next eight quarters, with the most, 8, due in Q4 2026.

Each candidate is counted once, at its next readout. The paid catalyst calendar names every readout with its trial, sponsor and design, adds filings and regulatory decisions, and runs 24 months ahead.

Which countries host the most heart failure trials?

United States hosts the most heart failure trials, with sites in 375 of the 948 studies (40%); trials in scope run in 81 countries in all.

A multinational heart failure trial is counted once in every country where it has a site, so the shares add up to more than 100%. Country spread shows where sponsors are building the evidence that regulators in each market will ask for.

Where are heart failure drugs being tested?

375 of the 948 heart failure trials (40%) have a site in the United States, 322 (34%) in Europe and 131 (14%) in China; 47 of the 94 candidates in development are tested in the US.

Each region's trials are the evidence its regulator will review: the FDA in the United States, the EMA (with the MHRA and Swissmedic) in Europe, the NMPA in China and the PMDA in Japan. A multinational heart failure trial counts once in every region where it has a site, so the shares add up to more than 100%. A candidate tested only outside the US and Europe is often a licensing opportunity for sponsors in those markets.

What has changed in the heart failure pipeline since the last update?

Since 3 Oct 2026, the heart failure pipeline count moved by +1 assets to 94, Phase III moved by 0 and the trial base by 0.

How does Douglas Insights count the heart failure pipeline?

Douglas Insights read 948 interventional trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov for the conditions "heart failure" and updated since 3 Oct 2021, then grouped every drug or biologic named in them into 94 unique candidates.

1. Code names, generic names and brand names of the same molecule are merged into one candidate, and every merge is reviewed by the research desk.
2. A candidate counts when it has a trial that is recruiting, running, or completed in the last 24 months, and at least one industry-sponsored trial.
3. Its phase is the highest phase among those trials; placebo, standard-of-care and comparator arms are not candidates.
4. Each figure on this page is drawn from one frozen dataset that passes ten checks before release, and the owner approves every edition.

Read the full approach on the research methodology page, or browse other Pharmaceuticals research.

Frequently asked questions about the heart failure pipeline

Research & citation

This review was researched, written and reviewed by the Douglas Insights Research Desk under the Douglas Insights editorial standards. Material errors are logged in the corrections log. No section is sponsored.

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