Imatinib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that has been on the market for more than 20 years to treat a type of leukemia. It acts by turning off tyrosine kinases. You can think of tyrosine kinases as critical switches in cells that turn on and off critical pathways. Too much of an “on” signal leads to dysregulated cell proliferation and growth—such as seen … [Read more...]
Sotatercept for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
For the past 30 years, all our pulmonary arterial hypertension medications were described as vasodilators: First prostanoids (epoprostenol), then endothelin receptor antagonists (bosentan, ambrisentan, macitentan) and PDE5 inhibitors (sildenafil and tadalafil). These medications work through different mechanism but all lead to the vasodilation or … [Read more...]
Major Drug Developments in PAH July 2020
In a surprising development, Complexa abruptly terminated their phase 2 study in PAH. They seem to have taken a page from Reata’s playbook. The news blindsided the PAH community and is a reminder that the development of a successful medication is a long hard road. The company did not provide much explanation. This is the second … [Read more...]
Exciting New Clinical Trials in PAH
The wheels of progress continue to move forward in PAH research. Two companies in particular are preparing to launch very exciting clinical trials. Gossamer Bio Inhaled Drug Study Gossamer Bio, a biopharmaceutic company is preparing to launch a new phase 2 clinical research trial using an inhaled tyrosine kinase inhibitor. About 10 years … [Read more...]
Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
30 years ago PAH scientists and doctors believed that PAH was caused by inappropriate or excessive squeezing (vasoconstriction) of the pulmonary arteries. The earliest medications to treat PAH focused on relaxing the pulmonary arteries. Over the next decade we learned that PAH is a much more complex disorder than just blood vessels squeezing too … [Read more...]
