News

Actelion Ltd. was recently recognized for its work in the treatment of rare diseases with the the EURORDIS Company Award 2016, an honor given by the European Organization for Rare Diseases (EURORDIS). The award, given to businesses for pioneering work in drug discovery and development, also acknowledged Actelion’s work with pulmonary…

Team Phenomenal Hope, a nonprofit group composed of medical and athletic professionals that uses endurance sporting events to spread awareness about pulmonary hypertension (PH), has just returned from a seven-day trek along the Southern Alps, and is now planning its next lap in the journey against the disease. The team…

Actor and TV show host Terrence J. has been named celebrity ambassador for the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA)’s 25th anniversary celebrations this year. Terrence J. has a fan base of nearly 2 million followers on Twitter, and by using social media to raise awareness and educate his fans about pulmonary hypertension (PH), he…

Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) have a higher risk of complications when they undergo conventional cardiac surgery, but a new study reports that if they undergo minimally invasive valve surgery, patients with PH can have a reduced risk of complications along with a decreased recovery period and less time spent in…

Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc. recently announced positive top-line results from a Phase 1a clinical trial of IW-1701, an investigational soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulator that is part of the pharmacologically distinct library of sGC compounds discovered by Ironwood. An enzyme, sGC is crucial to the physiological control of blood flow, inflammation, and fibrosis.

This Monday, Feb. 29, marks Rare Disease Day 2016  and the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) is encouraging patients, caregivers, and their families to join in the social media campaign celebrating the PHA community’s successes in raising public awareness of this and other rare diseases, and in demanding better treatments and support.

A study conducted in an animal model of pulmonary hypertension (PH) which measured levels of microRNAs (miRNA) — small molecules that seem to inhibit the activity and production of other molecules — may provide a new understanding of disease causes. The report, “Reversal of MicroRNA Dysregulation in an Animal Model of…

Researchers at University College London (UCL) and Actelion Pharmaceuticals presented a study investigating the therapeutic effect of macitentan (Opsumit) in a mouse model of pulmonary hypertension associated with systemic scleroderma (SSc). The presentation, titled “Macitentan Responsiveness Supports the Validity of a Murine Model of Pulmonary Hypertension in Scleroderma…

In a large study investigating the impact of sex in systemic sclerosis-associated pulmonary arterial hypertension (SSc-PAH), a team of researchers analyzed a cohort of Canadian patients and found that the male gender is associated with shorter PAH disease duration and increased burden of SSc disease, although it does not independently impact SSc-PAH survival.

Researchers at the Baskent University Faculty of Medicine in Turkey recently provided an overview of the existing literature regarding portopulmonary hypertension (PoPHT) in patients with advanced liver disease and liver transplant candidates. In these patients, pulmonary hypertension is also defined as PoPHT when pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is associated with…

Action Pharmaceuticals recently announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has released a positive opinion on the use of Uptravi (selexipag) for the treatment of patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Uptravi is an oral IP prostacyclin receptor agonist.

In a new study, researchers used novel cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) tissue phase mapping (TPM) to determine if right ventricular disease in pulmonary hypertension (PH) patients also resulted in abnormal left ventricular functioning, discovering that left ventricular myocardial velocities are significantly abnormal in PH and also constitute independent predictors of clinical…