News

Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) patients who failed to respond to treatment with Revatio (sildenafil), either alone or combined with other phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, may benefit by switching to Adempas (riociguat), according to results of a pilot study. Adempas was also seen to ably help treatment-naive patients, using it as a first…

Actelion Pharmaceuticals’ Opsumit (macitentan) may be a potential therapy for portopulmonary hypertension, according to positive results from a Phase 4 clinical study. The data was presented at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) meeting, held Sept. 15-19 in Paris. The development of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in association with…

Stimulating the activity of an immune system receptor called TLR3 led to a reduction of pulmonary hypertension (PH) symptoms in a rat model of the disease, making TLR3 a promising therapeutic target for treating the condition in humans. Researchers said that using treatments to restore…

A study finds that, contrary to some reports, the use of inhaled nitric oxide can be effective in treating premature infants with acute pulmonary hypertension. The study, “The efficacy of inhaled nitric oxide treatment in premature infants with acute pulmonary hypertension,” was published in the journal Early Human…

A protein called RAGE was found to be an important contributor to the remodeling of blood vessels in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). This is an important finding because it could lead researchers to develop new strategies that target RAGE protein as a potential treatment for the life-threatening disease. The RAGE protein,…

Pregnancy among women with heart diseases is generally safe, with just a few deaths being reported in the ROPAC registry during a 10-year period. However, pregnancy was found to be linked to an increased mortality risk among women with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). The most recent results of this…

Use of antidepressants during pregnancy doubles the risk for persistent pulmonary hypertension in the newborn (PPHN), a systematic review of several studies suggests. Out of the antidepressants analyzed, researchers proposed sertraline (brand name Zoloft, marketed by…

PhaseBio Pharmaceuticals has secured $34 million in Series D financing to advance the clinical development of PB1046, an investigational therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), as well as its lead product candidate PB2452, the company announced in a press release. PB1046 is being developed as a once-weekly…

United Therapeutics and MannKind established a worldwide exclusive licensing and agreement to develop and commercialize a dry powder formulation of treprostinil, an approved vasodilator, for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) that is now being tested along with the Technosphere inhalation device (a drug delivery system). The agreement gives…

Actelion Pharmaceuticals has filed a request with the European Medicines Agency for the expanded approval of Opsumit (macitentan) as a treatment for adults with moderate to severe inoperable chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), the company announced. If the EMA approves the submitted type II variation to…

Levosimendan, an investigational therapy for pulmonary hypertension associated with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (PH-HFpEF), was found to improve workings of the kidneys in PH-HFpEF patients with kidney impairment in a Phase 3 clinical trial. Findings from the study, “Differential effects of levosimendan and dobutamine on glomerular…

Extended-release tablets of ralinepag, Arena Pharmaceuticals’ treatment candidate for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), show a superior pharmacokinetic profile over both immediate-release ralinepeg capsules and approved immediate-release medication Uptravi (selexipag), according to two Phase 1 trials in healthy volunteers. Pharmacokinetics (PK) refer to how a drug is absorbed,…