This was a retrospective cohort study utilizing IQVIA open-source pharmacy and medical claims data among patients with a sacubitril/valsartan (SAC/VAL) prescription transaction.

Inclusion Criteria:

Primary IQVIA Longitudinal Access and Adjudication Data (LAAD) Cohort (for primary objective)

• Patients with ≥1 transaction for SAC/VAL in LAAD between 01 January 2017 and 30 November 2019 (index period). Date of the 1st SAC/VAL prescription transaction during this period was the index date.
• Patients from the Novartis-provided list of 21 plans and formularies of interest (mapping to LAAD data was based data elements such as plan name, payer name, and pharmacy benefit manager [PBM] name) as of the index date.
• Patients aged ≥18 years on the index date.
• Patients with 12-months of data visibility pre-index.
• Patients with 3-months of data visibility post-index (to allow for final adjudication/abandonment status confirmation).

For comorbidity data only:

• Patients with linkage of LAAD FIA to LAAD Dx by patient ID.
• Patients with ≥2 non-ancillary medical claims ≥30 days apart within the 12 months pre-index period.

Secondary LAAD Cohort (for secondary objective)

• Among patients from the Primary LAAD Cohort remaining in Step 6, patients who abandoned their 1st SAC/VAL prescription or did not receive SAC/VAL due to claim rejection in LAAD between 01 January 2017 and 28 February 2019 (index period). Date of the 1st abandoned/rejected SAC/VAL prescription transaction during this period is the index date.
• Patients aged ≥18 years on the index date.
• Patients with 12-months of data visibility pre-index.
• Patients with 12-months of data visibility post-index.
• For comorbidity data only:
• Patients with linkage of LAAD FIA to LAAD Dx by patient ID.
• Patients with ≥2 non-ancillary medical claims ≥30 days apart within the 12 months pre-index period.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with a SAC/VAL transaction during the 12-month pre-index period.
• Patients with data quality issues (e.g., missing gender).

This was a retrospective, noninterventional cohort study