Monday, June 06, 2005

News from Pfizer: FDA Approves Pfizer's Revatio as Treatment for Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

NEW YORK, June 6 -- Pfizer Inc said today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved RevatioTM(sildenafil citrate) as a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rare, aggressive and life-shortening vascular disease. Sildenafil citrate is the active ingredient in Viagra®, Pfizer's erectile dysfunction medication used by more than 26 million men worldwide.

PAH is characterized by dangerously high pressure in the blood vessels that lead from the heart to the lungs. It is estimated to affect approximately 100,000 people worldwide. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, dizziness and fatigue. Left untreated, patients have an average survival time of less than three years from the time of diagnosis. "Pfizer undertook a six-year clinical development program in PAH because patients with this devastating disease needed more medical options, and there was evidence that sildenafil could be an effective treatment," said Dr. Joe Feczko, Pfizer's chief medical officer. "Revatio demonstrates our commitment to developing treatments for unmet medical needs, including rare conditions such as PAH, regardless of commercial potential."

Click on the above link for the full press release.

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