News

Researchers offer new and additional evidence that a naturally occurring compound may be a valuable treatment for pulmonary hypertension. The factor, called tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), had beneficial effects on both lung blood vessels and the heart in a rat model of the disease. Their work also supports findings from early stage…

Results of a Phase 1 clinical trial of Liquidia Technologies’ powder formulation of treprostinil for pulmonary hypertension were promising enough to advance it into Phase 3 trials, the company reports. The trial included 57 healthy volunteers who randomly received escalating doses of the therapy, LIQ861, ranging between 25 mcg and…

Interim data collected from a Japanese clinical setting demonstrates the post-marketing efficacy and safety of Volibris (Letairis, ambrisentan) for the treatment of patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Oral administration of the drug improved the mean pulmonary arterial pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance with a good safety profile. The…

Diagnosing and managing pulmonary hypertension in premature American infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia vary a lot from doctor to doctor, a survey of 306 neonatologists indicates. The study, “Practices surrounding pulmonary hypertension and bronchopulmonary dysplasia amongst neonatologists caring for premature infants,” was published in the Journal of Perinatology.

Tenax Therapeutics plans to advance its lead compound, levosimendan, into a Phase 2 clinical trial to treat pulmonary hypertension (PH) associated with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (PH-HFpEF) — a type of PH related to left heart disease. The company, based in Morrisville, North Carolina, aims to start…

Primary pulmonary hypertension (PH), age extremes (less than 6 months or older than 16 years), invasive interventions, and co-diagnoses with other severe diseases are all risk factors for mortality in children with PH who are in pediatric intensive care units, a new study shows. The study, “Multicenter…

Ubenimex, an oral dual-inhibitor developed by Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, has failed to demonstrate its effectiveness to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in the Phase 2 LIBERTY study. Initiated in 2016, the LIBERTY trial (NCT02664558) included 61 patients with diagnosed WHO Group 1 PAH across 45 clinical sites in…

A tool for estimating blood pressure on the left side of the heart is unable to predict the long-term survival of pulmonary hypertension patients taking Remodulin, a study reports. The tool, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, or PCWP, is used to estimate blood pressure in the left atrium. United Therapeutics makes …

French scientists have identified antibodies that appear to increase the risk of a poor outcome in pulmonary arterial hypertension patients with lupus and others they believe improve patients’ survival. Anti-SSA/SSB antibodies are a risk factor in PAH patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, or SLE, while anti-U1-RNP antibodies are associated with a…

United Therapeutics and Corsair Pharma are teaming up to advance Corsair’s development of a blood-vessel-widening skin patch for treating pulmonary arterial hypertension. The patch will contain treprostinil, which is already available in other forms. Both companies have been working on ways to improve the administration of the compound. United developed a…

Using a multi-category index to assess pulmonary hypertension patients’ response to Adempas (riociguat) can help doctors predict their survival, a study reports. REVEAL risk scores can also help doctors predict patients’ progression-free survival — or the length of time it takes for their disease to worsen, researchers said. The study, which…

Liquidia Technologies has started a Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate LIQ861 as a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension. LIQ861 is a dry-powder, inhaled formulation of treprostinil that Liquidia developed to deliver deep into the lungs. U.S. regulators have already approved other formulations of treprostinil, which is a synthetic version…