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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…

Three ongoing clinical trials are recruiting additional participants to allow for more robust assessments of Reata Pharmaceuticals’ bardoxolone methyl therapy as a potential treatment for various forms of pulmonary hypertension. Two of the trials — the Phase 3 CATALYST (NCT02657356) trial, which examines…

The use of Revatio (sildenafil) to treat pulmonary hypertension in patients with valvular heart disease leads to worse clinical outcomes compared to placebo, results from a new clinical trial indicate. Results from the Phase 4 SIOVAC trial (NCT00862043) were presented at a Hot Line Late Breaking Clinical Trials (LBCT)…

Actelion’s Uptravi (selexipag) delays the progression of pulmonary arterial hypertension that stems from connective tissue disease, a follow-up analysis of Phase 3 clinical trial findings indicates. People with PAH-CTD also tolerate the therapy fairly well, according to the study. The PAH part of PAH-CTD refers to high blood pressure…

African-Americans with pulmonary hypertension and without health insurance have a two-fold increased risk of dying of this disease compared to white Americans, possibly because of delays in referral and treatment, a retrospective study reports. The study “Health Insurance and Racial Disparities in Pulmonary Hypertension Outcomes,” published in…