News

A compound that scientists have been examining as a cancer therapy reduced blood pressure in pulmonary hypertension patients’ lungs, according to a clinical trial. Researchers tested the therapy, dichloroacetic acid, in 20 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH. Although all responded, some with particular gene mutations failed to respond as well,…

Pulmonary hypertension in patients with sarcoidosis is associated with poor prognosis, despite treatment with a targeted therapy, a new study shows. The study “Management and long-term outcomes of sarcoidosis-associated pulmonary hypertension,” was published in the European Respiratory Journal. Patients with sarcoidosis frequently develop pulmonary hypertension. In…

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…

Blocking the enzyme phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) is a potential new therapeutic strategy to treat early pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients who have had a heart attack, a study suggests. The research, “Pulmonary vasodilation by phosphodiesterase 5-inhibition is enhanced and nitric oxide-independent in early pulmonary hypertension after myocardial infarction,”…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new, third-generation inhalation device, the TD-300/A, for use with Tyvaso (treprostinil) Inhalation Solution, United Therapeutics Corporation announced. Tyvaso is a prostacyclin vasodilator indicated for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) to improve exercise ability. Tyvaso was…

More therapies are now available for the 30 million or so people with rare diseases in the U.S. than ever before, and millions of dollars are being invested in clinical studies that will test new ways of evaluating — and advancing — potential treatments, including the use of natural history…

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…

Patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) taking Arena Pharmaceuticals‘ next-generation therapy Ralinepag (APD811) showed significant improvements in blood flow and exercise capacity in a Phase 2 clinical trial. Results of the study (NCT02279160) will be presented at the American College…

As Congress begins debate this week to overhaul the U.S. tax code, lawmakers should leave the Orphan Drug Act (ODA) — and the tax incentives it offers pharmaceutical companies to develop therapies for rare diseases — off the table. That’s the message being pushed by the National Organization for…

Reviva Pharmaceuticals has had a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that paves the way for a Phase 2 clinical trial of its neurodegenerative therapy RP5063 in pulmonary arterial hypertension. The meeting dealt with an investigational new drug application the company will submit on RP5063. What is known in therapy development circles…

Professor David Kiely, MD, and his team at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom, received a national award from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network and Royal College of Physicians. Kiely, who is director of the Sheffield Pulmonary Vascular Disease Unit…

Patients with a disease that causes abnormal blood vessel formation in skin, mucous membranes and some organs are at risk of developing different types of pulmonary hypertension, a study shows. The organs affected by the blood-vessel condition, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), include the lungs, liver and brain. The types of pulmonary…