All GLG News Analyses Filed Under: Cardiology

United Therapeutics has had the benefit of the doubt re use of IV remodulin based on "relative convenience",  despite expense and has not uniformly been adopted across PH centers and providers.  Despite the small overall number of infections, the rate of the more life threatening gram negative...

Ragweed is one of many allergens. This product probably won’t cure the allergen but it may mask the symptoms. Since the patient might not notice the difference and enjoy the relief they will buy the product. No pharmaceutical company seems to truly want to cure an illness they just want to keep the...

Ximelagatran is the first orally active direct acting thrombin inhibitor. It is clearly easier to use and as effective as warfarin, the only other oral antithrombotic agent. Because of safety concerns, ximelagatran was not approved and was taken out of development. Many patients at risk of thromboses...

Tekturna (Novartis) is the first direct renin inhibitor to be approved by FDA. It is unlikely to differ much from angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers. Thus, Tekturna is not really “new” in terms of its broader class as renin-angiotensin inhibitor. Nevertheless,...

Oral immunotherapy has, so far, not worked. It will be interesting to see if this pans out.

We need to think twice before approving medications without well-characterized outcomes.

Ximelagatran (Exanta) showed efficacy in stroke prevention, but nothing is mentioned about the incidence of potentially fatal liver side effects and the increased cardiac side effects.The rising star of the oral direct thrombin inhibitor world is Dabigatran (Rendix, Boerhinger Ingleheim) , but...

Aliskiren (Tekturna) has been approved for use by the FDA.This agent has a novel mechanism (Renin inhibition) which blocks the renin-angiotensin system one step earlier than ACE inhibitors and 2 steps earlier than angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB's).By virtue of this mechanism, there is no increase...

Hypertension has been poorly controlled in people affected by the condition. Some of the reason may be the lack of patient compliance, coupled with the fact that multiple drugs are often used to keep the individual stable. There is little any new drug will do to improve patient compliance short of making...

Top line data from MERLIN trial released. CVTX stock crashed approximately 25%.This study examined the use of Ranexa in acute coronary syndrome.The trial failed to meet its primary endpoint- which eliminates the possibility of expanding indication to ACS.No trend towards increased mortality or arrhythmia-...