Sotatercept
High EvidenceSotatercept (Winrevair, sotatercept-csrk) is Merck's first-in-class activin signaling inhibitor - a recombinant ActRIIA-Fc fusion protein that acts as a ligand trap for activin A, activin B, GDF-8 (myostatin) and GDF-11. It is FDA-approved for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), where it improved 6-minute walk distance by 40.8 meters in the Phase 3 STELLAR trial and, in the Phase 3 ZENITH trial in high-risk patients, cut the composite risk of death, lung transplantation and PAH hospitalization by 76%. An expanded U.S. label reflecting ZENITH was approved on October 27, 2025.
What It Is
Sotatercept (brand name Winrevair; nonproprietary sotatercept-csrk; formerly ACE-011 / MK-7962) is a first-in-class activin signaling inhibitor originally developed by Acceleron Pharma and now marketed by Merck (MSD outside the U.S.). Structurally it is not a small peptide but a recombinant fusion protein: the extracellular ligand-binding domain of human activin receptor type IIA (ActRIIA) fused to the Fc portion of human IgG1. That construct works as a decoy receptor, or ligand trap, sequestering activin A, activin B, growth differentiation factor 8 (GDF-8, better known as myostatin) and GDF-11 before they can engage their native receptors. In pulmonary arterial hypertension, this matters because PAH is driven by an imbalance between pro-proliferative activin/SMAD2/3 signaling and growth-suppressing BMPR-II/SMAD1/5/9 signaling in the pulmonary arteries. Conventional PAH drugs - endothelin receptor antagonists, PDE5 inhibitors, prostacyclin analogs - are vasodilators that relax the vessels but do not address the cellular overgrowth that progressively narrows them. By restoring the activin/BMP balance, sotatercept exerts anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory effects and, in preclinical models, reverses pulmonary vascular remodeling - disease-modifying activity that vasodilators do not produce. The pivotal Phase 3 STELLAR trial (published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 2023) randomized adults with PAH on stable background therapy and met its primary endpoint: a placebo-corrected improvement in 6-minute walk distance of 40.8 meters at week 24 (95% CI 27.5-54.1; p<0.001), with significant benefit in eight of nine secondary endpoints including WHO functional class and pulmonary vascular resistance, and an 84% reduction in the risk of death or clinical worsening events over a median 32.7 weeks of follow-up. On that basis the FDA approved Winrevair in March 2024. The follow-on Phase 3 ZENITH trial went further, enrolling 172 adults with WHO functional class III or IV PAH at high risk of mortality, randomized 1:1 to sotatercept (target dose 0.7 mg/kg subcutaneously every 3 weeks) or placebo on top of background therapy; it was stopped early for overwhelming efficacy after sotatercept reduced the composite risk of all-cause death, lung transplantation and PAH hospitalization by 76% versus placebo. The parallel Phase 3 HYPERION study in recently diagnosed intermediate- and high-risk patients was also stopped early on the strength of the ZENITH data and separately met its primary endpoint. On October 27, 2025 the FDA approved an updated U.S. label based on ZENITH: Winrevair is now indicated for adults with PAH (WHO Group 1) to improve exercise capacity and WHO functional class and to reduce the risk of clinical worsening events, including hospitalization for PAH, lung transplantation and death. Development continues beyond Group 1 disease: the Phase 2 CADENCE study reported positive topline results in November 2025 in adults with combined pre- and post-capillary pulmonary hypertension due to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (WHO Group 2), and the Phase 2 MOONBEAM study (NCT05587712) is the first dedicated trial of sotatercept in children aged 1 to 17 with PAH. Because sotatercept traps myostatin and GDF-11 alongside the activins, it is mechanistically the broadest member of a growing family of activin-axis drugs that includes the anti-activin-A antibody garetosmab, the ActRII-blocking antibody bimagrumab, the anti-myostatin antibodies trevogrumab and apitegromab, and the myostatin/activin decoy taldefgrobep alfa - though sotatercept is the only one of the group with a full FDA approval.
Regulatory Status
Winrevair (sotatercept-csrk) for injection, 45 mg and 60 mg, was first approved by the FDA in March 2024 based on the Phase 3 STELLAR trial. On October 27, 2025 the FDA approved an updated indication based on the Phase 3 ZENITH trial: treatment of adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH, WHO Group 1) to improve exercise capacity and WHO functional class and to reduce the risk of clinical worsening events, including hospitalization for PAH, lung transplantation and death. It is a prescription biologic administered by subcutaneous injection every 3 weeks with mandatory hemoglobin and platelet monitoring; it is not a research chemical, supplement, or over-the-counter product.
Effective: October 2025
View FDA SourceWhy Researchers Study It
Sotatercept is the proof of concept that pulmonary arterial hypertension can be treated as a disease of cellular overgrowth rather than only of vascular tone. For three decades PAH therapy meant vasodilators, which relieve symptoms but leave the underlying remodeling of the pulmonary arteries intact. Sotatercept instead rebalances the activin/SMAD2/3 versus BMPR-II/SMAD1/5/9 signaling axis that governs whether pulmonary vascular cells proliferate or stay quiescent, and in animal models it reverses established remodeling. That mechanistic difference showed up clinically: a 40.8-meter 6-minute walk gain in STELLAR, an 84% reduction in death or clinical worsening in STELLAR, and a 76% reduction in death, transplant or hospitalization in the sickest patients in ZENITH - a magnitude of benefit rarely seen in PAH. Because ActRIIA-Fc traps myostatin and GDF-11 in addition to activins A and B, sotatercept is also the widest-spectrum tool available for asking what the activin axis does across tissues, and it sets the efficacy and safety benchmark against which more selective activin-axis agents such as garetosmab, bimagrumab, trevogrumab and apitegromab are judged.
Proposed Mechanisms
- Acts as a decoy receptor (ligand trap): the ActRIIA extracellular domain fused to human IgG1 Fc binds and sequesters activin A, activin B, GDF-8 (myostatin) and GDF-11 before they reach their native receptors
- Reduces pro-proliferative SMAD2/3 signaling and restores the balance with growth-suppressing BMPR-II/SMAD1/5/9 signaling in pulmonary vascular cells
- Exerts anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory effects on the pulmonary vasculature, reversing vascular remodeling in preclinical models rather than only dilating vessels
- Lowers pulmonary vascular resistance and right-ventricular afterload, improving exercise capacity and functional class
- By trapping myostatin and GDF-11, also engages the muscle and erythropoiesis arms of the activin axis - the origin of both its historical hematology development and its hemoglobin-raising effect
Evidence Snapshot
| Study Type | Model | Outcome | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 3 (STELLAR) - randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled | Adults with PAH (WHO FC II or III) on stable background PAH therapy; sotatercept vs placebo for 24 weeks | Primary endpoint met: placebo-corrected improvement in 6-minute walk distance of 40.8 m at week 24 (95% CI 27.5-54.1; p<0.001); 8 of 9 secondary endpoints improved, including WHO functional class and pulmonary vascular resistance; 84% reduction in risk of death or clinical worsening (median follow-up 32.7 weeks) | Source |
| Phase 3 (ZENITH, NCT04896008) - randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled; stopped early for efficacy | 172 adults with PAH (WHO FC III or IV) at high risk of mortality; sotatercept 0.7 mg/kg target dose subcutaneously every 3 weeks (n=86) vs placebo (n=86), both on background PAH therapy | 76% reduction in the risk of a composite of all-cause death, lung transplantation and hospitalization for PAH versus placebo; trial stopped early at a planned interim analysis for overwhelming efficacy | Source |
| Phase 3 (HYPERION) - randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled; stopped early | Adults with recently diagnosed (within 12 months) intermediate- or high-risk PAH added to background therapy | Met its primary endpoint; the study was stopped early after the positive ZENITH interim results made continued placebo exposure difficult to justify | Source |
| Regulatory - FDA label expansion | U.S. product label for Winrevair (sotatercept-csrk) for injection, 45 mg / 60 mg | On October 27, 2025 the FDA approved an updated indication based on ZENITH: to improve exercise capacity and WHO functional class and to reduce the risk of clinical worsening events, including PAH hospitalization, lung transplantation and death | Source |
| Safety - pooled clinical studies (prescribing information) | Adults with PAH receiving sotatercept | Most common adverse reactions (>=10% and 5% more than placebo): infections, epistaxis, telangiectasia, diarrhea, headache, rash, increased hemoglobin, dizziness, erythema, gingival bleeding. Hemoglobin elevations >2 g/dL above ULN in 15%; severe thrombocytopenia (platelets <50,000/mm3) in 3-6%. Hemoglobin and platelets must be checked before each of the first 5 doses | Source |
Commonly Discussed Benefits
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Safety & Cautions
- Prescription-only biologic for a serious, life-threatening disease - sotatercept is not a wellness, performance or research-chemical compound and must be prescribed and monitored by a clinician experienced in PAH
- Erythrocytosis: sotatercept raises hemoglobin, and severe elevations may increase the risk of thromboembolic events or hyperviscosity syndrome; hemoglobin elevations more than 2 g/dL above the upper limit of normal occurred in about 15% of treated patients
- Thrombocytopenia and bleeding: severe thrombocytopenia (platelet count below 50,000/mm3) occurred in roughly 3-6% of treated patients; serious bleeding events have been reported
- Mandatory laboratory monitoring - hemoglobin and platelet count must be measured before each of the first 5 doses (or longer if values are unstable) and periodically thereafter, with dose adjustment or interruption based on results
- Common adverse reactions include epistaxis, telangiectasia, gingival bleeding, rash, headache, diarrhea and dizziness, reflecting the drug's effects on vascular and hematologic biology
- Embryo-fetal toxicity: sotatercept may cause fetal harm; effective contraception is advised during treatment and for a period after the final dose, and it may impair female fertility
- Because ActRIIA-Fc traps myostatin and GDF-11 in addition to activins, its off-target biology is broader than that of the selective anti-activin-A or anti-myostatin antibodies, and long-term consequences of that breadth are still being characterized
- Use outside approved WHO Group 1 PAH - for example in Group 2 pulmonary hypertension due to HFpEF, or in children - remains investigational pending completion of the CADENCE and MOONBEAM programs
Comparisons
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Citations
- [1] Phase 3 Trial of Sotatercept for Treatment of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (STELLAR) - New England Journal of Medicine (2023) PubMed
- [2] U.S. FDA Approves Updated Indication for WINREVAIR (sotatercept-csrk) in Adults with PAH Based on Phase 3 ZENITH Study - Merck (October 27, 2025) PubMed
- [3] WINREVAIR Reduced the Risk of a Composite of All-Cause Death, Lung Transplantation and Hospitalization for PAH by 76% Compared to Placebo in the Phase 3 ZENITH Trial - Merck PubMed
- [4] Merck Announces Phase 3 HYPERION Study of WINREVAIR Met Primary Endpoint in Recently Diagnosed Adults with PAH - Merck PubMed
- [5] WINREVAIR (sotatercept-csrk) for injection - U.S. Prescribing Information (Merck) PubMed
- [6] Sotatercept analog suppresses inflammation to reverse experimental pulmonary arterial hypertension - Scientific Reports (2022) PubMed
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