News

Diethylcarbamazine, a compound used to fight a tropical parasitic disease, might effectively treat pulmonary hypertension (PH), a Brazilian research team concluded after observing the drug’s effect on mice. Their study, “Diethylcarbamazine: A potential treatment drug for pulmonary hypertension?” appeared in the journal Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. It found that diethylcarbamazine affected disease processes…

The female sex hormone estrogen may prevent disease progression of pulmonary hypertension — at least if results in rats can be translated to human patients. Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) showed that estrogen reversed progression from pulmonary hypertension (PH) to right heart failure, and restored lung…

Bayer’s Adempas (riociguat) can improve the lung and heart functioning of pulmonary hypertension patients who fail to respond to phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5i), a Phase 3 clinical trial suggests. The RESPITE trial also showed that Adempas can improve biomarkers of pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH. Researchers published the study in the European…

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare complication of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and is associated with the presence of specific autoantibodies, a study has found. PAH is a complex disease characterized by the constriction of pulmonary arteries. PAH can be associated with connective tissue diseases (CTDs) such as SLE. The…

Doctors who are intensive care respiratory specialists help seriously ill heart patients with breathing difficulties achieve better outcomes, a University of Maryland School of Medicine study reports. Researchers said the new model of having these specialists work with cardiac specialists also lowers patients’ costs. One reason the model works is that…

Uptravi (selexipag) slows the progression of connective tissue disease associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension, regardless of the type of connective tissue disease, according to a Phase 3 clinical trial in Germany. The therapy also increases the time it takes for the disease, known as CTD-PAH, to worsen and for patients who…

Information from a pulmonary hypertension registry at Germany’s University Hospital Giessen indicates that patient survival rates vary with the cause of their disease. Researchers published the results in The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. The study was titled “The Giessen Pulmonary Hypertension Registry: Survival in pulmonary hypertension subgroups.” A…

Vascular BioSciences (VBS) received a Fast-Track STTR grant of up to $2.3 million to begin a Phase I/II study that will examine CARSKNKDC (CAR) peptide’s efficacy for pulmonary hypertension (PH). The study, titled “Cyclic CAR peptide: a targeted therapy for pulmonary hypertension,” will be conducted in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital,…

Bellerophon recently announced promising results in a trial assessing INOpulse, its investigational treatment device for pulmonary hypertension associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (PH-COPD). Results showed the device led to an average increase in exercise capacity by the end of the four-week trial and a decrease in lung artery blood pressure.

Tracleer (bosentan) has become the first therapy to obtain U.S. regulatory approval for treating pulmonary hypertension in children. The Food and Drug Administration authorized it for children aged 3 and older who have idiopathic or congenital pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Actelion Pharmaceuticals, the company that holds the marketing license for…

Beta blockers, the cornerstone therapy for left-side heart failure, can improve pulmonary arterial hypertension, a small study indicates. The results suggested that the therapy could help prevent right-side heart failure, the leading cause of death among PAH patients. The study, “Pulmonary arterial hypertension treatment with carvedilol for…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declined SteadyMed Therapeutics‘ new drug application (NDA) for its Trevyent (treprostinil injection) therapy to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). SteadyMed, with offices in San Ramon, California, and in Israel, had submitted its NDA in July 2017. But the application was denied on Aug. 31…