New clinical results with sGC stimulators

Background Stimulators of the nitric oxide (NO) receptor soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) are a new class of substances which enhance the biosynthesis of cyclic guanosin monophosphate (cGMP) independently from the presence of nitric oxide (NO). In pulmonary smooth muscle cells, increased intracellular cGMP concentrations lead to vasodilatation, making sGC-stimulators potentially useful for the treatment of patients suffering from pulmonary hypertension (PH). Despite recent advances in the management of PH there is still significant morbidity and mortality from this condition which may occur in isolation (idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, iPAH) or in the context of different clinical settings including chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), PH in chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (PH-COPD), in interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD) or in left heart disease (PH-LHD).