WASHINGTON (Dow Jones/AP) -- Pfizer Inc. has won regulatory approval for its drug Inspra, which is designed to keep heart-failure patients alive longer, the company said Wednesday.
The Food and Drug Administration said Inspra is the first drug to be approved for this use in the class of blood pressure lowering agents called aldosterone receptor blockers.
Inspra, known chemically as eplerenone, is more effective than the current standard treatment for people with heart failure who have had a heart attack, according to Pfizer's trials.
Inspra will be on the market in December 2003, but some heart patients will get it in November through an early-access program.
Heart failure occurs when a weakened heart can't effectively pump oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. About one-third of heart-attack survivors develop heart failure, according to the National Institutes of Health.
New York-based Pfizer had 2002 revenue of $32.37 billion.
Wednesday, October 08, 2003
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