Swiss biotech company Actelion Pharmaceuticals has launched Opsumit (macitentan) as a new treatment option for patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in England, where approximately 3,000 people receive disease-targeted drug therapy for the condition. This comes as significant news for Actelion, after the Institut National d’Excellence en Santé…
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The Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Foundation – Quebec (HTAPQ) expressed its disappointment with the decision made by the Institut National d’Excellence en Santé et Services Sociaux (INESSS), which didn’t include Opsumit (macitentan) on the list of medications covered by Quebec’s public drug insurance plan. Opsumit is a prescription medicine used…
United Therapeutics Corporation paid Supernus Pharmaceuticals a $2 million milestone payment for the launch of United’s Orenitram Extended-Release Tablets for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in the United States. A form of pulmonary hypertension, PAH is caused by the abnormal functioning of pulmonary artetires, which carry blood…
Jose Caceres, MD, from Jacobi Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, recently presented research at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference that adds fuel to the “obesity paradox phenomenon.” Whereas obesity (higher body mass index, or BMI) is usually associated with poorer health outcomes, Dr. Caceres’…
Last week, during the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society 2014, Jasmijn van Campen, MD, a staff pulmonologist at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam gave an oral presentation on her recent work on treating idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension with beta blockers. “Despite the contraindications, beta blockers are prescribed for…
Earlier in the month, Pulmonary Hypertension News Contributing Editor Charles Moore reported on how, according to Canada’s Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) Patient and Caregiver Survey, those in Canada diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH) are experiencing serious financial, social, and physical burdens as a result of the disease. Now, a…
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, presented a new study at the 2014 American Thoracic Society International Conference revealing the effects of pulmonary thromboendarterectomy (PTE) in patients with chronic pulmonary thromboembolic disease, suggesting a positive effect in patients’ conditions after the procedure. Daniel Crouch, MD, pulmonary and critical fellow…
Having less access to health care, pulmonary hypertension patients from lower socioeconomic status present a more advanced state of the disease at the time of initial evaluation, compared to higher socioeconomic groups. These are the results of a study conducted by Long Island Jewish School of Medicine researcher Jose…
Approximately 5,000 Americans are diagnosed with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) each year. The condition is a result of persistent obstruction of pulmonary blood vessels due to unresolved blood clots from previous episodes of acute pulmonary embolism. If patients do not receive treatment for CTEPH, they may develop…
Last Tuesday, May 13, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, together with the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, held a one-of-a-kind forum composed of FDA drug reviewers and patients diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). PAH is a condition wherein the lungs’ vasculature constricts and raises blood pressure, eventually…
Clinicians are constantly in need of biomarkers that can be used to non-invasively predict disease status of patients. In the case of pulmonary hypertension, one promising predictor is the N-terminal fragment of the pro-hormone for brain natriuretic peptide: N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP). Levels of NT-proBNP are elevated after…
Pulmonary hypertension can result from a number of causes: liver diseases, lung diseases, rheumatic disorders, low oxygen, poor health behaviors and can also be inherited. More than 80% of cases resulting from a genetic predisposition to the disease are due to a mutation in the bone morphogenic protein receptor 2…
