Vericiguat
Vericiguat is a heart medication used to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization in adults with chronic heart failure.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 1 clinical label set within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
⚠️ FDA Boxed Warning — the FDA’s strongest safety alert ▾
Verquvo must not be taken during pregnancy. Based on animal studies, it can cause serious birth defects — including heart and blood vessel malformations — and may lead to miscarriage. This risk is serious enough that the FDA requires it to appear as a boxed warning (the strongest warning type). If you are a woman who could become pregnant, you must take a pregnancy test before starting Verquvo and use effective birth control the entire time you are on it and for one month after your last dose. If you become pregnant while taking Verquvo, contact your doctor right away.
📖 Vericiguat: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Vericiguat — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
Vericiguat is used in adults with chronic heart failure to lower the risk of serious cardiovascular events.
- Verquvo (vericiguat) oral tablet is indicated to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization for heart failure in adults with symptomatic chronic heart failure and an ejection fraction (the percentage of blood the heart pumps out) of less than 45%, who have recently been hospitalized for heart failure or needed IV diuretics (water pills given through a vein) in an outpatient setting.
⚙️How it works▾
Vericiguat works by stimulating an enzyme called soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC), which plays a key role in how the body uses nitric oxide — a natural signal that helps relax and widen blood vessels. In heart failure, nitric oxide signaling is impaired, which contributes to stress on the heart and blood vessels. By directly activating sGC, vericiguat boosts levels of a molecule called cyclic GMP (cGMP) inside cells, which relaxes smooth muscle in vessel walls, widens blood vessels, and helps reduce the workload on the heart.
💊How it's taken▾
Verquvo tablets are taken orally once daily with food. Food is important — it greatly improves how much of the medication your body absorbs and makes blood levels more predictable. Your doctor will start you at a lower dose and increase it gradually (roughly every 2 weeks) until reaching your target maintenance dose, as long as you tolerate each step.
- Take it with food every day — a meal of any size appears to work
- If you cannot swallow a whole tablet, Verquvo may be crushed and mixed with water right before you take it
- Follow your prescriber's exact dosing plan; do not change your dose on your own
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common side effects reported with Verquvo in clinical trials are:
- Low blood pressure (hypotension) — dizziness, lightheadedness, or fainting, especially when standing up
- Anemia (low red blood cell count) — fatigue, weakness, or shortness of breath
Call your doctor promptly if you experience significant dizziness or feel faint, or if you notice unusual tiredness that could point to anemia. These are the most clinically meaningful side effects identified in the large clinical trial (VICTORIA).
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Embryo-fetal toxicity (harm to an unborn baby): This is the most critical warning. Verquvo caused heart and blood vessel birth defects in animal studies. It must not be taken during pregnancy. Women who could become pregnant must have a negative pregnancy test before starting, use reliable contraception throughout treatment, and continue contraception for one month after the last dose.
- Breastfeeding: Verquvo is likely present in human breast milk. Breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment because of potential harm to the infant.
- Low blood pressure (hypotension): Verquvo modestly lowers blood pressure. Patients already at risk for symptomatic low blood pressure should be monitored closely, particularly during dose increases.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Vericiguat has a few important drug interactions to be aware of:
- Other sGC stimulators (e.g., riociguat) — must NOT be used at the same time as Verquvo; this combination is contraindicated because both drugs work on the same pathway
- PDE-5 inhibitors (e.g., sildenafil, used for erectile dysfunction or pulmonary hypertension) — not recommended together; combining them can cause a meaningful additional drop in blood pressure
- Long-acting nitrates — experience is limited in heart failure patients; use with caution and discuss with your doctor
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Pregnancy: Do not take Verquvo if you are pregnant. It can cause serious birth defects. A pregnancy test is required before starting.
- Women of childbearing potential: Must use effective contraception during treatment and for one month after the final dose.
- Breastfeeding: Do not breastfeed while taking Verquvo.
- Children: Safety and effectiveness have not been established in pediatric patients.
- Older adults: No dose adjustment is needed based on age alone. Verquvo was well-studied in patients 65 and older, with no significant difference in safety or efficacy compared to younger patients.
- Kidney impairment: No dose adjustment is needed for patients with eGFR (a measure of kidney function) of 15 or above who are not on dialysis. Talk to your doctor if you have significant kidney disease.
- Other sGC stimulators or PDE-5 inhibitors: Tell your prescriber if you take any of these — they should not be combined with Verquvo.
🚑If you take too much▾
If too much Verquvo is taken, the most likely problem is a significant drop in blood pressure (hypotension). Treatment would focus on managing symptoms — for example, lying down, fluids, or other supportive care. Because vericiguat binds tightly to proteins in the blood (about 98%), it is unlikely to be removed by dialysis.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Verquvo produces a small reduction in systolic blood pressure (the top number) compared to placebo — roughly 1 to 2 mmHg more. It also reduces NT-proBNP, a blood marker that reflects how much stress the heart is under; this reduction was seen as early as 12 weeks and continued through 32 weeks in clinical trials. Studies show it does not meaningfully affect heart rhythm (QTc interval) or cause irregular heartbeats. It also did not significantly affect bleeding time when tested alongside aspirin, or blood clotting factors when tested alongside warfarin.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
Vericiguat is very well absorbed when taken with food — about 93% of the dose reaches the bloodstream. Taking it with food (whether a large or small meal) also reduces variability in blood levels, making its effects more consistent. It stays in the body for a meaningful stretch: the half-life (the time for half the drug to be cleared) is about 30 hours in heart failure patients, and it takes roughly 6 days to reach steady levels with once-daily dosing. Vericiguat is processed mainly in the liver through a pathway called glucuronidation (not primarily through the CYP enzyme system that handles many common drugs), and its breakdown product is inactive. About 98% of the drug is bound to proteins in the blood, which also means it is unlikely to be removed by dialysis.
📦How to store it▾
Store at 20°C to 25°C (68°F to 77°F); excursions permitted between 15°C to 30°C (between 59°F to 86°F).
📄 Written from Vericiguat’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
Supplements & herbs that interact with Vericiguat
54 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Vericiguat in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Major · 2
- Moderate · 35
- Minor · 17
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — see our data sources & update cadence. Not medical advice: an interaction being documented does not mean it will happen to you; do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Vericiguat — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What exactly is Verquvo supposed to do for me? ▾
Does it matter if I take it with food? ▾
What side effects should I watch for? ▾
Are there any medications I absolutely cannot take with Verquvo? ▾
I'm a woman who could get pregnant. What do I need to know? ▾
I'm older — is Verquvo safe for me? ▾
Is Vericiguat available over the counter? ▾
When was Vericiguat first available? ▾
Who makes Vericiguat? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Vericiguat’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
💊 How Vericiguat comes
Vericiguat is available in 1 form. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Tablet
How this form is used
- Verquvo tablets are used to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization in adults with symptomatic chronic heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (less than 45%), following a hospitalization for heart failure or a need for IV diuretics given in an outpatient setting
- Verquvo tablets are taken by mouth once daily with food
- Verquvo tablets may be crushed and mixed with water immediately before taking, for patients who cannot swallow whole tablets
- Your doctor will start you at a lower dose and gradually increase it approximately every 2 weeks until reaching the target maintenance dose, as tolerated
- Take Verquvo at the same time each day and follow your prescriber's dosing instructions exactly
📊 Vericiguat across the U.S. market
How Vericiguat appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
Also listed with the FDA, not a patient dose form: Powder (4) — bulk drug substance sold to compounders/manufacturers and multi-item kits. These aren’t counted in the dose-form total above.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Vericiguat is used
A general measure of how commonly Vericiguat is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Vericiguat is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Vericiguat prescribed? Of the 1,594 medications we measure, Vericiguat ranks #992 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 38% of them.
Utilization by Vericiguat product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
vericiguat 10 MG Oral Tablet Most dispensed
Summed across the 2 of 5 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2475846
vericiguat 5 MG Oral Tablet
Summed across the 2 of 7 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2475858
vericiguat 2.5 MG Oral Tablet
Summed across the 2 of 7 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 2475854
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Vericiguat, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 6 of 19 listed Vericiguat NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Vericiguat products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Vericiguat — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Tablet | ||||
| 2.5 mg | — | Bayer AG | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 5 mg | — | Bayer AG | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 10 mg | — | Bayer AG | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 2.5 mg | Oral | Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 5 mg | Oral | Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 10 mg | Oral | Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 💊Bulk drug substance | ||||
| 1 kg/kg | — | Hetero Labs Limited × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Maithri Drugs Private Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | MSN Life Sciences Private Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
Showing 16 of 16 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 16 Vericiguat NDCs →
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Vericiguat — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Vericiguat in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Vericiguat went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 2475830 1 dose form · 3 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Tablet RxCUI 2475845In current FDA listings
Look up RxCUI 2475830 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Vericiguat is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🏭 Manufacturers & labelers
RxNorm drug class
Vericiguat belongs to the Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Stimulator class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 1 FDA-filed SPL label set within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
For canonical ingredient pages, bounded product-attributed indication and administration excerpts may be added to the AI evidence, and the generator is instructed to preserve available product, brand, route, and form qualifiers instead of treating one label as universal. Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.