News

Children undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) to treat their cancer should be screened for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), according to a case report of two young patients at a Pennsylvania hospital. Its authors noted that other reports also suggested “possible links” between such treatments and PAH…

November is Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) Awareness Month, when patients, caregivers, family members, and friends will come together virtually and in person to drive public recognition of the chronic heart and lung disease. The Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA), the world’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to PH, is hosting a…

Opsynvi, a fixed-dose oral combination of macitentan and tadalafil, was approved by Health Canada for the long-term treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). It is for use by patients on stable doses of its two active compounds: macitentan (sold as Opsumit) at 10 mg and tadalafil (sold as Adcirca) at 40 mg. Marketed…

By analyzing how medications affect the genetic activity of cells, researchers developed a computational pipeline that may be useful in repurposing cancer treatments for use in other diseases. Leveraging this pipeline, the team identified two compounds, I-BET762 and BRD2889, that might be refined — more quickly and at lower cost…

Global Genes has partnered with the Rare Disease Diversity Coalition (RDDC) to advance health equity for rare disease patients and caregivers in underrepresented communities of color. “For rare disease patients, there are many challenges — and for people of color with a rare disease, these challenges are compounded…

Due to problems at a third-party facility, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided to not approve Tyvaso DPI, a dry powder inhaled formulation of treprostinil, at this time. According to United Therapeutics, the medication’s developer, the issue is expected to be dealt with soon. The company anticipates…

Oxygen therapy may help relieve lung pressure in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) who are about to undergo balloon pulmonary angioplasty, a procedure in which balloons are used to open blood vessels that have been chronically narrowed or blocked, according to a new study. Researchers found a decrease…

People with pulmonary hypertension (PH) who start treatment with opioids to manage pain after undergoing surgery are at high risk of continuing to take these addictive medications for longer than required, new research suggests. Indeed, hypertension was one of eight specifically identified “top risk factors” for “new persistent post-surgical…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Tenax Therapeutics to begin clinical testing of its new oral formulation of imatinib in people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The company is planning to conduct a small pharmacological study this year — and then launch a Phase 3…

The Rare Disease Diversity Coalition (RDDC) awarded $600,000 in grants to ease the disparities faced by rare disease patients of color. These Impact Rare Disease Solution grants will go five RDDC steering committee working groups, which aim to identify problems for rare disease communities and advocate for solutions. The five…

Infusion with Ferinject (ferric carboxymaltose) safely treated people with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and iron deficiency, easing disease symptoms, improving exercise capacity, and lowering their number of hospital visits over a period of 18 months, a long-term study reported. Ferinject, as this treatment for iron deficiency anemia is known…

Targeting a protein called p110a, a part of the PI3K family of enzymes, may be useful for preventing or even reversing pulmonary hypertension, research done in cells and rodent models showed. “Targeted inhibition of [p110a] offers a disease-modifying treatment approach, which is readily accessible by small molecule inhibitors and…