Inês Martins, PhD,  managing science editor—

Actelion recently announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorization for Uptravi (selexipag) for the treatment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Uptravi is a prostacyclin receptor agonist that leads to vasodilation in the pulmonary circulation. It has been proven effective in the treatment of subsets of patients…

Vascular BioSciences presented six studies, five of which revealed new data on pulmonary hypertension in animal models and novel therapeutic approaches, at the recent American Thoracic Society (ATS) 2016 International Conference  in San Francisco, California. The first abstracts presented, “Oral CAR Peptide Adjuvant Enhances Sildenafil Therapy for Pulmonary…

The phosphodiesterase (PDE) 4 inhibitor, GPD1116, effectively treats pulmonary hypertension and several other diseases in animal models, and holds promise as a new therapeutic drug, researchers reported in the study, “Pharmacological profile of GPD-1116, an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4,” published in the Biological and Pharmaceutical…

Sevoflurane might be suitable to sedate patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) who are undergoing surgery, according to the study, “Rats with chronic, stable pulmonary hypertension tolerate low dose sevoflurane inhalation as well as normal rats do,” published in the journal PLOS One. PAH is a…

AVEO Oncology announced that it has filed provisional patent applications covering “composition of matter” claims for its Notch 3-specific inhibitory antibody, AV-353. The latest filings are the company’s second concerning its Notch 3 antibody program and AV-353. The Notch signaling pathway is involved in multiple cell fate decisions throughout human life,…

A new, aerosol-delivered gene therapy has shown promising effects in a pig model of pulmonary hypertension (PH), according to a study published in the Journal of The American College of Cardiology (JACC), titled “Intratracheal Gene Delivery of SERCA2a Ameliorates Chronic Post-Capillary Pulmonary Hypertension“. PH is characterized by…