Pharmaceutics

This page contains key pharmaceutical news on drug recalls, FDA clearance, safety communications and research. In cardiology, key pharmaceutic agents include antiplatelet therapies, anticoagulants, hypertension drugs, and drugs for heart failure and arrhythmias.

FDA approves Bayer's finerenone to treat wide range of heart failure patients
Finerenone, sold by Bayer under the brand name Kerendia, is now approved in the United States for the treatment of HFmrEF and HFpEF. The drug has already been used for years to treat patients with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes.
Statin use may protect patients from subarachnoid hemorrhages
Statins appear to be the most impactful for patients diagnosed with hypertension or cerebrovascular disease.
FDA grants breakthrough therapy designation to new drug candidate for FA cardiomyopathy
The new drug, LX2006, has already received the FDA's fast track designation. This latest distinction was based on early data from two separate clinical trials.
FDA finalizes new heart warnings for COVID-19 vaccines
The new warnings, first proposed to Pfizer and Moderna in April, are now officially required by the FDA. They provide additional information about the potential risks of myocarditis and/or pericarditis associated with these vaccines.
New report raises questions about data that helped heart drug gain FDA approval
Ticagrelor, an antiplatelet medication from AstraZeneca commonly prescribed by cardiologists, gained FDA approval back in 2011. The author of a new investigative report, however, is raising several concerns about the data used to secure that approval.

'A missed opportunity': Statin use low among patients with peripheral artery disease

Researchers tracked statin use among patients with peripheral artery disease, cerebrovascular disease and coronary heart disease.

Specialists share experience prescribing a historically expensive cardiovascular medication

Tafamidis received FDA approval in May 2019 for the treatment of transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM). It has a list price of $225,000 per year.

Machine learning predicts drug cardiotoxicity

Machine learning is playing a key role in predicting all major forms of drug cardiotoxicity, potentially helping reduce late-stage clinical trial failures.

America’s most expensive CV drug needs a 93% price cut

A 92.6% reduction in the list price of tafamidis—an effective but ultimately unaffordable drug designed to treat transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy—would be required to make the medication accessible to the average heart patient, researchers reported in Circulation Feb. 12.

Cardiology’s Challenge for the 2020s: Turning the Trend on Rising Mortality

The latest numbers on cardiovascular deaths put the focus on innovative ways to point the trend line down again.

Ticagrelor alone reduces bleeding risk after PCI, DAPT

Results from the late-breaking TWILIGHT trial suggest that, among high-risk patients who have undergone PCI and completed three months of dual antiplatelet therapy, it’s safer to continue treatment with ticagrelor alone rather than add aspirin to that cocktail.

Shorter-duration DAPT looks favorable for patients at a high risk of bleeding after PCI

A shortened, three-month course of dual antiplatelet therapy might be a safer bet than 12-month treatment for patients at a high risk of bleeding after PCI and implantation of a drug-eluting stent.

FDA OKs Pfizer’s tafamidis to treat cardiac amyloidosis

The FDA has cleared two new drugs, tafamidis and tafamidis meglumine, for the treatment of cardiomyopathy caused by a rare disorder known as transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR-CM).

Pharmaceutics

FDA approves Bayer's finerenone to treat wide range of heart failure patients

Statin use may protect patients from subarachnoid hemorrhages

FDA grants breakthrough therapy designation to new drug candidate for FA cardiomyopathy

FDA finalizes new heart warnings for COVID-19 vaccines

New report raises questions about data that helped heart drug gain FDA approval