As more and more treatments become available for PAH and more patients are diagnosed and living with this chronic and progressive disease, there seems to be more and more news of biopharmaceutical companies jumping on board to develop and eventually sell treatments for PH. It seems nearly every day there is a headline stating companies have merged or been purchased or even started in order for them to develop better treatments for PAH. Examples such as “Icagen and Omdana Are Collaborating on Pulmonary Hypertension Therapies” or “Johnson & Johnson Completes Acquisition of Actelion, a Leader in Pulmonary Hypertension Therapies” are now common in our news feeds. So what does this mean for pulmonary hypertension patients?
The World Is More Aware
We used to think that pulmonary arterial hypertension was a very rare disease and most physicians would see or identify very few cases during their entire careers. As the world becomes more aware of the disease, more cases are identified and treated. Although misdiagnosis and mistreatment of the disease is still a huge problem, more and more patients are being correctly diagnosed and being sent to PAH Comprehensive Care Centers for treatment. The best chance for slowing down or reversing pulmonary hypertension is early diagnosis and treatment. Increased awareness directly impacts the number of patients being treated and living with PAH.
There is Money to Be Made in Developing Treatments for PAH
As the number of patients being diagnosed has increased, so has the number of prescriptions being written for treating PAH. It is very expensive to develop a therapy for rare diseases and many pharmaceutical companies find it too risky to invest the capital in research that may or may not turn into an effective therapy. The increased number of prescriptions being written leads pharmaceutical companies to be more willing to invest in research as the payoff could be greater than previously thought. There is a larger patient pool that could potentially be on their therapies. This is beneficial to PAH patients, as more research being done in PH will hopefully lead to more effective therapies and hopefully one day a cure.
How Can PAH Patients Benefit from Increased Bio-Pharmaceutical Interest in PAH?
In order for patients currently living with PAH to benefit from increased interest by biopharmaceutical companies they need to be informed and aware. Keep regular appointments with your PH Specialist and stay up to date by reading blogs like ours. Increased interest will lead to new research studies. Participating in research can be an excellent opportunity to receive new treatments and sometimes FDA approved treatments. The treatments are usually free and participants may even receive a small stipend for their time and travel. Frequent appointments with the research team and sometimes a PAH expert may also be provided.
