Cardiovascular diseases remain a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This review highlights ten promising antihypertensive drug candidates with the potential to address pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), resistant hypertension and uncontrolled hypertension. Aprocitentan, developed by Janssen NYSE:JNJ) and Idorsia (SIX:IDIA), is an experimental oral drug designed to treat resistant hypertension. As a dual endothelin…

A recently published paper in Cardiovascular Research found that a gene frequently found in centenarians could safeguard heart functionality. In a rodent model, a team of researchers found that the bactericidal/permeability-increasing fold-containing family-B member-4 gene (BPIFB4) gene protected against deterioration of heart function in middle-aged mice (14 months old). The researchers, led by Professor Paolo Madeddu of the University…

The FDA has accepted a supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for Jardiance (empagliflozin) tablets as a potential therapy to reduce the risk of kidney disease progression and cardiovascular death in adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Some 37 million people in the U.S. have CKD. Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is developing the drug with Boehringer Ingelheim. The…

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) announced it had reached an agreement to acquire CinCor Pharma (Nasdaq:CINC). After announcing the proposed deal, CinCor’s share price jumped 144% to $28.74. AstraZeneca has agreed to a tender offer to acquire outstanding shares of CinCor for $26 per share, or $1.3 billion. CinCor specializes in developing therapies for hypertension and chronic kidney…

CardiaCare recently announced it signed a strategic licensing agreement with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to further develop CardiaCare’s wearable atrial fibrillation treatment device. Through the agreement, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories will lead necessary clinical studies for CardiaCare to receive regulatory clearance in India. CardiaCare is developing a non-invasive, personalized neuromodulation wearable for atrial fibrillation treatment. It will…

The clinical-stage biopharma CinCor is developing baxdrostat, a highly selective, oral small molecule inhibitor of aldosterone synthase, for hypertension. Catherine Pearce, chief operating officer and co-founder of CinCor, acknowledges that the company has received criticism for its plan to bring a new drug into the highly genericized blood pressure control market. “The reality is that…

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has announced that the investigational antihypertensive drug aprocitentan significantly lowered blood pressure (BP) when used in conjunction with background antihypertensive therapy in the Phase 3 PRECISION study.  Sharing the results in collaboration with Idorsia (OTCMKTS:IDRSF), J&J noted that the drug candidate helped maintain a reduction in blood pressure for 48 weeks. …

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is backing a series of measures to reduce the risk of serious side effects associated with Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, limiting their use in high-risk individuals. Similarly, Health Canada is recommending updated labeling for the drug class to disclose the risk of serious cardiovascular events and cancer. The agency is…

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) has received Fast Track designation from FDA to investigate tirzepatide in obese or overweight adults with weight-related comorbidities. The Fast Track status is designed to compress the time needed for FDA to approve tirzepatide for use in adults with obesity or overweight with weight-related comorbidities. The drug is a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide…

The clinical-stage company Algernon Pharmaceuticals (CSE:AGN; Frankfurt:AGW0; OTCQB: AGNPF) has received approval to run a Phase 1 clinical study of an IV formulation of AP-188. The study will explore the drug candidate’s potential, a formulation of the classic psychedelic N,N-dimethyl tryptamine or DMT, to treat stroke patients in the Netherlands. The Stichting Beoordeling Ethiek Biomedisch…

Amgen (Nasdaq:AMGN) announced that it would purchase the San Carlos, California–based ChemoCentryx (Nasdaq:CCXI) for $52 per share in cash, which equates to a total of approximately $3.7 billion. The centerpiece of the proposed acquisition is Tavneos (avacopan), which scored FDA approval last year for the adjunctive treatment of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis. The disease…

Astellas Pharma (TSE:4503) has revealed that the FDA has slapped a clinical hold on its Phase 1/2 FORTIS Pompe disease study after observing a serious adverse event (SAE) — peripheral sensory neuropathy — in a trial participant. Peripheral sensory neuropathy results from damage to nerves outside of the central nervous system. The condition can lead…

The clinical-stage pharma company Acer Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq:ACER) has begun screening patients for its Phase 3 DiSCOVER (Decentralized Study of Celiprolol on vEDS-related Event Reduction) clinical study of EDSIVO (celiprolol) to treat COL3A1-positive vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (vEDS). There are presently no FDA-approved drugs available for vEDS, which is associated with a risk of internal bleeding,…

AstraZeneca’s (LON:AZN) SGLT2 inhibitor Farxiga (dapagliflozin) led to a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular death or worsening heart failure in the DELIVER Phase 3 study.  First FDA approved in 2014 as a type 2 diabetes treatment, Farxiga has scored approvals related to heart failure and chronic kidney…

Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies recently announced analysis data on the benefits of Xarelto. The Phase 3 Voyager PAD clinical trial evaluated the Xarelto (rivaroxaban) vascular dose (2.5 mg twice daily plus aspirin 100 mg once daily) in reducing severe vascular events in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) after lower-extremity revascularization (LER).…

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has announced that the FDA has approved Jardiance (empagliflozin) 10 mg to lower the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalization in adults with heart failure. Lilly developed the drug, an SGLT2 inhibitor, in collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. Jardiance is contraindicated in adults with type 1 diabetes, given its potential to…

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) is suing Regor Therapeutics, a China-headquartered company that announced a $1.5 billion diabetes alliance with Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) in late 2021. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, Pfizer’s lawsuit also accuses former employees Xiayang Qiu, Min Zhong and 10 unnamed individuals of using its trade secrets as the…

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) is abandoning plans to develop an investigational antisense therapy known as vupanorsen for potential use for cardiovascular indications and severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG). The company had projected that vupanorsen could generate up to $3 billion in peak sales. Pfizer is returning development rights of the drug to Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:IONS), from whom it…

Last December,’s (NYSE:JNJ) blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto (rivaroxaban) won FDA approval for two new indications for pediatric indications. The drug now has 11 indications in the U.S., more than any other direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC). In 2020, the drug generated nearly $6.5 billion in revenue globally. To learn more about the new indications, we spoke…

Scientists have experimented with mRNA for decades, but the pandemic foisted the platform into the limelight. The Pfizer-BioNTech (NYSE:PFE/NSDQ:BNTX) and Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) COVID-19 vaccines have since emerged as two of the best-selling pharmaceutical products in recent memory. Researchers are now exploring dozens of new possibilities for the mRNA platform. Here, we summarize several areas where…

FDA has informed Bristol Myers Squibb (NSDQ:GILD) that it has extended its review of mavacamten, an allosteric modulator of cardiac myosin. Bristol Myers Squibb aims to win an FDA nod for the drug as a treatment for obstructive symptomatic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM), a disease associated with heart muscle thickening. Mavacamten addresses the molecular defect involved…

The gene therapy company Voyager Therapeutics, Inc. (NSDQ: VYGR) has reached an agreement with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) to license novel capsids from its RNA-driven TRACER screening technology. A capsid refers to the protein shell of a virus protecting its genome. “We believe that our TRACER platform has the ability to produce not only enhanced blood-brain-barrier penetrant…

Drugs that work well in adults don’t always translate well for treating pediatric patients. The problem has inspired clinicians such as the pediatric cardiologist Dr. Brian McCrindle at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto to work with the pharma industry on trials focused on pediatric patient populations and introduce newer agents to clinical practice.…

Merck (NYSE:MRK) has agreed to acquire the biopharma Acceleron Pharma (NSDQ:XLRN) for $180 per share in cash, bringing the purchase price to roughly $11.5 billion. The companies expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2021. Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Acceleron specializes in developing drugs that aim to balance transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, which plays…

Janssen (NYSE:JNJ) has announced that its blockbuster blood thinner Xarelto (rivaroxaban) had a similar safety profile to aspirin in pediatric patients a Phase 3 study. The trial focused on pediatric patients who underwent the Fontan procedure, a type of open-heart surgery intended to correct single ventricle anomalies in the heart. Physicians have traditionally relied on aspirin…