Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39520648›Full record

ArticlePulmonary therapy2025

Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Macitentan in Inoperable Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension: Results from MERIT and its Open-Label Extension.

Nick H Kim, Andrea M D'Armini, Luke S Howard, David P Jenkins, Zhi-Cheng Jing, Eckhard Mayer, Liliya Chamitava, Gabriela Lack, Hany Rofael, Maria Solonets and 1 more

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pulmonary therapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02021292 phase2completednot on this map

Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind, Multicenter, Parallel-group, 24-week Study to Assess the Efficacy, Safety and Tolerability of Macitentan in Subjects With Inoperable Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension

TypeinterventionalSponsorActelionRan2014 to 2016Enrolled80ConditionsChronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary HypertensionArmsMacitentan, Placebo
NCT02060721 phase2completednot on this map

MERIT-2 : Long Term, Multicenter, Single-arm, Open-label Extension Study of the MERIT-1 Study, to Assess the Safety, Tolerabilty and Efficacy of Macitentan in Subjects With Inoperable Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH)

TypeinterventionalSponsorActelionRan2015 to 2022Enrolled76ConditionsChronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary HypertensionArmsMacitentan
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Upfront combination therapy with sildenafil and ambrisentan in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.Jornal brasileiro de pneumologia : publicacao oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Pneumologia e Tisilogia · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Nick H KimPulmonary Vascular Medicine, University of California San Diego, 9300 Campus Point Dr. MC7381, La Jolla, CA, 92037-7381, USA. h33kim@health.ucsd.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4702-650X
Andrea M D'ArminiDepartment of Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Heart and Lung Transplantation and Pulmonary Hypertension Unit, Foundation IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, University of Pavia School of Medicine, Pavia, Italy.
Luke S HowardNational Pulmonary Hypertension Service, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
David P JenkinsDepartment of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Royal Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK.
Zhi-Cheng JingState Key Lab of Cardiovascular Disease, FuWai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Disease, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
Eckhard MayerDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Kerckhoff-Clinic, Bad Nauheim, Germany.
Liliya ChamitavaActelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a Johnson & Johnson Company, Statistical Decision Sciences, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Gabriela LackActelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a Johnson & Johnson Company, Clinical Science, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Hany RofaelJanssen Research and Development, LLC, a Johnson & Johnson Company, Clinical Science, Titusville, NJ, USA.
Maria SolonetsActelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a Johnson & Johnson Company, Global Medical Safety, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Hossein-Ardeschir GhofraniGerman Center for Lung Research (DZL), Giessen, Germany and University of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center (UGMLC), Giessen, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionEvidence for use of pulmonary arterial hypertension targeted-therapies in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is limited. In MERIT-1, the endothelin receptor antagonist macitentan improved hemodynamic and functional parameters versus placebo in patients with inoperable CTEPH over a 24-week double-blind (DB) period. Its open-label (OL) extension study (MERIT-2) provides long-term safety/efficacy data.

methodsMERIT-2 (NCT02060721) was a multicenter, single-arm, OL, phase 2 extension study of MERIT-1. Patients completing MERIT-1 were eligible to receive 10 mg macitentan once-daily in MERIT-2. Safety and efficacy (6-min walk distance [6MWD] and change in World Health Organization functional class [WHO FC]) were assessed in all patients in MERIT-2 regardless of treatment received in DB (All patients MERIT-2 OL macitentan 10 mg group) and the subgroup of patients receiving DB macitentan in MERIT-1 (Long-term [DB/OL] macitentan 10 mg subgroup).

resultsOf the 80 patients randomized in MERIT-1, 76 entered MERIT-2 (All patients MERIT-2 OL macitentan 10 mg group): 40 who received DB macitentan (DB-macitentan patients) and 36 DB placebo (DB-placebo patients). Median (interquartile range) macitentan exposure in the All patients MERIT-2 OL macitentan 10 mg group was 45.5 (26.0, 66.1) months. During the OL period, treatment-emergent adverse events (AE) were reported in 72 (94.7%) patients; most frequent were worsening of pulmonary hypertension (19.7%), decreased hemoglobin (18.4%) and upper respiratory tract infection (15.8%). Fourteen (18.4%) patients died; none were assessed as macitentan-related. At Month 6 post-OL baseline, mean (standard deviation) change in 6MWD was - 0.4 m (43.62) for DB-macitentan patients and 10.7 m (45.63) for DB-placebo patients; the majority had unchanged (83.3%) or improved (12.5%) WHO FC. Safety/efficacy analyses were consistent in the Long-term (DB/OL) macitentan 10 mg subgroup.

conclusionThese analyses provide long-term safety/efficacy data in patients with inoperable CTEPH treated with macitentan. No unexpected safety findings occurred; reported AEs were consistent with the known safety profile of macitentan. At 6 months post-OL baseline, DB-placebo patients modestly improved 6MWD; DB-macitentan patients maintained improvements observed in MERIT-1. WHO FC was largely unchanged.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifiers: NCT02021292; NCT02060721.

Indexed as

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertensionInoperableMacitentanOpen-labelPhase 2

Identifiers

PMID39520648
PMCPMC11861443

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.