Fevipiprant is in clinical development for the treatment of patients aged 12 years and older with uncontrolled asthma who remain symptomatic despite treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) with or without at least one additional controller. Whilst there is no cure for asthma, most patients are able to control their symptoms by taking daily preventative medication and additional controllers when required. However, a small subset of asthma patients are resistant to the current standard of care for asthma and are unable to control their symptoms. This can have severe implications on their quality of life as uncontrolled asthma can result in decreased physical fitness, decreased sleep quality and decreased productivity at work or school.
Fevipiprant is administered orally once daily. It works by preventing the binding of substances called prostaglandin to DP2 receptors on inflammatory cells therefore preventing the inflammatory response to triggers that result in an asthma attack. Fevipiprant is the first asthma drug to decrease the airway smooth muscle mass that is often excessive in the airways of patients with asthma. If licensed, fevipiprant will offer a new treatment option for patients with uncontrolled asthma.
Drugs
November 2019
Vericiguat for chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction
Vericiguat is a medicinal product in clinical development for the treatment of heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction. HF is a complex clinical syndrome of symptoms and signs that suggest the efficiency of the heart as a pump is impaired. Symptoms include breathlessness and fatigue, and signs of the condition include swollen ankles and crackling sounds in the lungs. More than half of people with HF have a reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), also referred to as systolic heart failure, where the heart muscle does not contract effectively, and therefore less oxygen-rich blood is pumped out to the body. There remains a large unmet need for new therapies in the treatment of HFrEF.