Prana Biotech

Industry: Development of cerivastatin as treatment of PAH

Pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH, is a fatal disease with a life expectancy of only 2.8 years. Prana Biotech is developing a therapy to treat PAH.
 
The proposed therapy uses cerivastatin, a drug the FDA formerly approved to treat high cholesterol. However, cerivastatin caused muscle weakness at high doses, so it was withdrawn from the market.
 
The Prana Biotech team found that when formulated for inhalation, cerivastatin could help treat PAH. While current therapies target the symptoms of the disease, the inhaled cerivastatin could slow progression of the disease. Cerivastatin appears to be a more effective treatment for PAH than other statins.
 
The drug therapy market for PAH is expected to exceed $3 billion. 

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