Conference Coverage

What to Watch for at HFSA 2026: Late-Breaking Heart Failure Research

Edited by:
Ashton L. Stahl

Key Highlights

  • Separate phase 2 trials will evaluate tovinontrine in chronic heart failure with reduced and preserved ejection fraction.
  • The program will feature amyloidosis research spanning targeted PET/CT imaging, eplontersen, acoramidis, and prognostic biomarkers.
  • New cardiomyopathy data will include global efficacy and exercise-performance analyses from ACACIA-HCM.
  • Real-world and randomized studies will examine device therapy, remote monitoring, decongestion strategies, and medication optimization.

Introduction

The Heart Failure Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting 2026 will bring late-breaking clinical research in pharmacotherapy, imaging and diagnostics, and device-based treatment to Phoenix, Arizona, from October 9 through 12. Two plenary sessions and 4 rapid fire oral sessions will preview data across the heart failure spectrum, including reduced and preserved ejection fraction, transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and advanced heart failure.

Will tovinontrine add a treatment option across ejection fractions?

Tovinontrine will be evaluated in 2 of the phase 2 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies during the Sunday late-breaking plenary. Cycle-1 REF is a dose-finding study of safety and effectiveness in patients with chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). At the same time, Cycle-2 PEF will assess the therapy in chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Together, the trials test the same oral therapy in 2 major heart failure phenotypes. The presentations may clarify the dose-response and safety findings in HFrEF and whether the effectiveness and safety signals extend to HFpEF.

Can amyloidosis care move toward earlier detection and broader monitoring?

Cardiac amyloidosis is one of the meeting's most prominent themes. A prospective, multicenter phase 3 cohort will examine amyloid-targeted PET/CT with 124I-evuzamitide as a potential method for detecting early cardiac amyloidosis without an invasive biopsy. The presentation will be a key opportunity to assess how the imaging approach performed in the study cohort.

Therapeutic and prognostic studies will add other pieces to the picture. CARDIO-TTRansform analyses will address the effect of eplontersen on health status and cardiac biomarkers in transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy. Rapid fire presentations will also evaluate the prognostic value of the serum transthyretin-to-NT-proBNP ratio, early estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline after acoramidis initiation, and real-world comparative effectiveness of acoramidis versus tafamidis.

What will ACACIA-HCM show in nonobstructive HCM?

The Monday plenary will feature 2 analyses from the Assessment Comparing Aficamten to Placebo on Cardiac Endpoints in Adults With Non-Obstructive Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (ACACIA-HCM). One will report the global efficacy of aficamten in nonobstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and a prespecified analysis will examine comprehensive measures of exercise performance. A separate rapid fire presentation will address dosing and safety in symptomatic nonobstructive disease.

Taken together, the presentations are positioned to provide a multidimensional view of the trial, including efficacy, exercise-related outcomes, dosing, and safety.

How will devices and remote monitoring perform outside tightly controlled settings?

Several presentations will focus on established or emerging device-based strategies. The Sunday plenary will include 1-year real-world outcomes after cardiac contractility modulation therapy from a US post-approval study and registry outcomes following baroreflex activation therapy. Additional sessions will examine baroreflex activation therapy in heart failure with mildly reduced ejection fraction, cardiac microcurrent therapy, pulmonary artery pressure monitoring, and 3-year PROACTIVE-HF results stratified by sex.

The conference will also cover remote and home-based monitoring. Studies will address an ambient home system for peripheral edema, noninvasive sensor-derived assessment of left ventricular filling pressure in acute dyspnea, and remote dielectric sensing-guided decongestion. These presentations may help define where monitoring tools fit within hospital, ambulatory, and home care.

Can implementation strategies close gaps in heart failure care?

The program extends beyond individual drugs and devices to care delivery. STRONG-HF Japan will examine achievement of near-target-dose quadruple guideline-directed medical therapy before discharge after acute heart failure. POLY-HF will connect quadruple-therapy achievement and biochemically verified medication adherence with outcomes in HFrEF. Other studies will evaluate a patient-centered web application and the TAILORD electronic intervention to optimize therapy.

Rapid fire sessions will also cover subcutaneous furosemide for worsening heart failure, diuretic intensification, colchicine in HFpEF, metabolic responses after weight-loss surgery, dyspnea trajectories after hospitalization, and antithrombotic implementation in patients with HeartMate 3 devices.

When to watch

The first late-breaking plenary is scheduled for Sunday, October 11, from 9:00 to 10:30 AM, followed by 3 rapid fire sessions throughout the day. The second plenary will take place Monday, October 12, from 9:00 to 10:30 AM, with the final rapid fire session scheduled from 12:15 to 1:15 PM.

Across these sessions, the most consequential data may clarify whether new therapies improve outcomes across heart failure phenotypes, whether amyloidosis can be detected and monitored earlier, and how devices and digital strategies perform in routine clinical practice.

Reference

Heart Failure Society of America. HFSA's 2026 Annual Scientific Meeting to feature late-breaking trials that could reshape heart failure treatment. Press release. September 18, 2026.