Janet Stewart, MSc,  —

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals has secured $34 million in Series D financing to advance the clinical development of PB1046, an investigational therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), as well as its lead product candidate PB2452, the company announced in a press release. PB1046 is being developed as a once-weekly…

A certain protein found on white blood cells, which plays a role in causing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), may be a potential new therapeutic target, a study in mice and humans suggests. The study, “Inhibition of CRTH2-mediated Th2 activation attenuates pulmonary hypertension in mice,” was published…

Actelion Pharmaceuticals submitted a supplemental new drug application to U.S. regulatory authorities seeking expanded approval for Opsumit (macitentan) to treat inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration application is based on promising results from the Phase 2 MERIT-1 clinical trial (NCT02021292) that…

A compound in a plant that is used in traditional Chinese medicine lowered the lung blood pressure of rats with pulmonary arterial hypertension, a study shows The compound, osthole, did this by decreasing levels of proteins associated with PAH, researchers said. The study, “Global Proteomics Deciphered Novel-Function of…

Plans for a Phase 2 clinical trial of levosimendan, a proposed treatment for pulmonary hypertension associated with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction, will soon be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval, Tenax Therapeutics announced. In a pre-application meeting with company executives, the FDA supported the study’s proposed…

American researchers have identified three blood-flow measurements that could help doctors predict the outcomes of people whose pulmonary hypertension stems from a serious heart condition. The discovery applies to PH patients whose lung blood pressure disorder is associated with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, or PH-HFpEF. A diagnosis of…

Many people with chronic kidney disease also have pulmonary hypertension, a condition that increases their risk of heart problems and death, a review of 16 studies found. Doctors refer to health problems that can damage the heart muscle as cardiovascular events. They include a heart attack, an irregular heartbeat, or a…

The first healthy participants have been injected with CAM2043 (treprostinil FluidCrystal Injection Depot) in a Phase 1 study assessing the treatment’s safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics in both single and repeated doses, the Swedish pharmaceutical company Camurus announced. CAM2043 contains treprostinil, a therapy that is effective for treating pulmonary…

Patients with blood clots in the lungs known as chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) can benefit from balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA), a new study shows. The procedure is an alternative to the standard treatment for CTEPH — pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) — in patients who are not eligible…

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals has secured $15.6 million in funds to develop its pipeline for orphan drugs led by PB1046, which is designed to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), heart failure, cardiomyopathy and cystic fibrosis. Silicon Valley Bank is loaning PhaseBio $7.5 million, to be allocated in increments subject to certain…

Male gender and lung function parameters have been identified as risk factors for progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension in patients with systemic sclerosis-PAH (SSc-PAH), a study shows. Part of the larger, multi-center, DETECT study, these results are reported in the research, “Factors associated with disease progression in early-diagnosed pulmonary arterial hypertension…

A heart chamber malfunction leads to worse survival in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients who have had a double lung transplant, a study reports. The malfunction, known as diastolic dysfunction, occurs when the heart’s left ventricle is unable to fill up with blood before pumping it out to the body. Researchers…