Actelion’s Uptravi goes on sale
pharmafile | January 5, 2016 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Sales and Marketing | Actelion, PAH, Uptravi, pulmonary arterial hypertension, pulmonary hypertension, selexipag
Swiss pharma firm Actelion has put its new drug for pulmonary hypertension, Uptravi, up for sale in the US, weeks after it gained FDA approval.
Uptravi (selexipag) is an oral, selective, IP prostacyclin receptor agonist, for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in the US. It is indicated for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension to delay disease progression and reduce the risk of being admitted to hospital.
The FDA approved the drug in December, at which time Actelion co-founder and chief executive Jean-Paul Clozel said the company would strive to make the drug available within weeks. The price is expected to be in the region of $160,000 to $170,000 per patient per year, before rebates.
Now Actelion Pharmaceuticals US president Bill Fairey comments: “Today’s announcement represents a milestone for PAH treatment in the US – the availability of a new oral medication that effectively targets the prostacyclin pathway. We are proud to bring an oral treatment to patients which is supported by robust outcome-based evidence in combination with an ERA, or a PDE-5 inhibitor, and even in combination with both an ERA and a PDE-5 inhibitor. “
Dr Richard Channick, who is director of the pulmonary hypertension and thromboendarterectomy program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston comments: “After 20 years of prostacyclin therapy I am very excited to have Uptravi, an oral treatment that targets the prostacyclin pathway and is proven to improve long-term outcomes for patients.
“Furthermore, with Uptravi we can now use oral combination therapy regimens that target the three established treatment pathways for PAH, an option that could change the way we treat PAH in the long-term.”
Rino Aldrighetti, president and chief executive of the US Pulmonary Hypertension Association says the availability of a new treatment would have a positive impact on people with PAH: “We at the Pulmonary Hypertension Association welcome new treatment options that help patients and their families affected by this devastating disease. We hope that Uptravi will enable physicians to impact the long-term outcome for many of their PAH patients.”
Lilian Anekwe
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