ORAL TREPROSTINIL FOR THE TREATMENT OF PULMONARY ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare yet progressive and life-threatening condition that, despite the availability of FDA-approved therapies, remains incurable. Prostacyclin analogues are a mainstay of therapy for patients with PAH, but in spite of demonstrated improvements in survival, exercise capacity and hemodynamics, these agents have been limited by poor pharmacokinetics and complex administration requirements. Treprostinil diolamine (Orenitram (TM); United Therapeutics) is a novel oral formulation that joins the approved parenteral and inhaled formulations (Remodulin (R) and Tyvaso (R); United Therapeutics). It displays similar pharmacokinetic properties, while offering the potential for improved patient compliance through the convenience of oral dosing. Following the demonstration of improved exercise capacity as monotherapy in patients with de novo PAH (FREEDOM-M), treprostinil diolamine was recently approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with WHO group 1 PAH and continues to be evaluated in a number of clinical trials in this patient population.