BePHenomenal.com Aims to Educate and Engage People with PH

November is Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month and, in recognition, SteadyMed has announced the launch of its new website, BePHenomenal.com, dedicated to educating people with pulmonary hypertension (PH) so as to empower them to live the healthiest and most PHenomenal lives possible.

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association notes that for people with PH, awareness is a matter of life or death because common symptoms, such as shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain, are often misdiagnosed, and the start of proper treatment delayed.

Such delays also trouble patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a PH subtype characterized by high blood pressure in the lungs caused by narrowing or tightening (constriction) of the pulmonary arteries that connect the right side of the heart to the lungs. If left untreated, PAH can become life-threatening within a few years.

BePHenomenal.com includes expert lifestyle information tailored for people with PH, such as exercise tips, healthy recipes contributed by patients and experts familiar with the disease, and testimonials from people living with PH on their experiences and the techniques they use to manage the condition. Visitors to BePHenomenal.com can register to receive updates as new information is added to the site.

“Initial diagnosis and management of PH can be quite overwhelming to the patient, family or caregiver,” said Patricia Gresham, a PH nurse practitioner and program coordinator with the Fresno California Pulmonary Hypertension Program, in a press release. “BePHenomenal.com will help provide patients and their caregivers with health and wellness tools customized to their unique needs.”

SteadyMed is also sponsoring a photo and video drive on Twitter and Facebook, encouraging people affected by PH to share what they are thankful for this holiday season using the hashtag #PHenomSelf.

“As someone living with PH, it is important that I find ways to live my best life every day and carry out my personal motto, its a great day to be alive,” Carol Bowling, a PH patient, said in the release. “I am inspired by this PHenomenal community, and am grateful to SteadyMed for continuing to help our voices be heard.”

“SteadyMed is dedicated to supporting the PH community, and we hope that BePHenomenal.com helps empower and inspire this community to live their most PHenomenal lives,” said Marylyn Rigby, senior director, Investor Relations and Marketing at SteadyMed. “We are always excited to honor the incredible people in the PH community. We are especially grateful to do so during Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness month and look forward to sharing more amazing stories from members of this community through [our] photo and video drive.”

SteadyMed, based in California, also operates a research and development facility in Rehovot, Israel, focused on the development of products to treat orphan and high value diseases. The company’s lead drug candidate, Trevyent, is currently a development stage product that combines SteadyMed’s proprietary PatchPump technology with treprostinil, a vasodilatory prostacyclin analogue FDA approved for pulmonary hypertension and is the only parenteral treatment for PAH approved for both intravenous (IV) and subcutaneous (SC) administration. PatchPump can be customized to deliver liquid drugs, including biologics, with a wide range of volumes and viscosities, pre-programed at the correct delivery rate. The device is equipped with sensors that provide patients with audible and visual feedback upon successful delivery and end of dosing.

The company hope to commercialize Trevyent in the U.S., and also has an exclusive license and supply agreement with Vancouver, Canada-based Cardiome Pharma Corp. for commercialization of Trevyent in Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

Additional information about SteadyMed can be found at www.steadymed.com.

Sources:
SteadyMed Ltd.
The Pulmonary Hypertension Association