With the U.S. midterm elections now less than two weeks away, patient advocacy groups are solidly focused on a range of hot-button issues, from the Orphan Drug Tax Creditand affordable health insurance to future funding for rare disease research. Yet “whether Democrats take over the House or Senate, or…
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A set of new genes and signaling pathways linked to the development of severe lung disease in premature infants was found by researchers from Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and collaborators. Their study, “Exome sequencing identifies gene variants and…
Portopulmonary hypertension (PoPH) affects a significant proportion of patients who undergo a liver transplant and significantly worsens their outcomes if left untreated, a Chinese study reports. The research underlines the importance of screening liver transplant recipients for PoPH, and treating those with the condition…
Serum NLRC3 levels are markedly lower in patients with pulmonary hypertension, and correlate with results from other diagnostic tests, researchers from China report. This study with that finding, “NLRC3: A Novel Noninvasive Biomarker for Pulmonary Hypertension Diagnosis,” was published in the journal Aging and Disease. Right heart…
The nonprofit organization Team PHenomenal Hope is welcoming applications for $500 micro-grants awarded through a program that aims to help cover the non-medical needs of pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients. Grants given through the Team PH Unmet Needs Patient Impact Fund are intended to cover expenses such as groceries, travel and lodging…
A new procedure, performed at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Illinois, successfully treated a patient with pulmonary hypertension (PH) caused by blood clots formed in the lung vessels, a condition referred to as chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).
A large review of clinical trials evaluating whether pulmonary hypertension (PH)-targeted therapies can improve exercise capacity in patients with pulmonary hypertension due to left heart disease (PH-LHD) found varying effectiveness and modest benefit. The findings were reported in the study “Pulmonary hypertension-targeted therapies in heart failure: A systematic…
Patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) at risk of having pulmonary hypertension (PH) also have similar risk factors for a poorer outcome as patients with SSc-PH and SSc-pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a study shows. Being male, having accumulation of fluids around the heart, low oxygen desaturation during exercise, and reduced…
Bellerophon Therapeutics has announced positive data from its Phase 3 clinical trial investigating INOpulse in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), as well as the enrollment of the first group of patients in its Phase 2b study testing INOpulse in patients with pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung…
Half a year has gone by since disgraced pharma executive Martin Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for securities and wire fraud while heading San Diego-based Retrophin. As founder and CEO of another company (then known as Turing Pharmaceuticals), in late 2015 Shkreli bought the rights…
A new study identified two potential therapeutic targets for pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with heart failure. The two related enzymes, named ROCK1 and ROCK2, were seen to exert opposing effects on heart muscle cells, either preventing or promoting PH, in mouse models of…
Long-term use of ralinepag, an investigational therapy being developed by Arena Pharmaceuticals, can promote positive changes in the outcome of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), interim data from a Phase 2 extension trial shows. After taking oral ralinepag for a median of up to 1.8 years, patients continued…
