Pfizer Inc. announced today that the European Commission has approved
Revatio® (sildenafil) solution for injection for patients who
are currently prescribed oral Revatio and who are temporarily unable to
take oral medicine, but are otherwise clinically and haemodynamically
stable.
“Now with the approval of Revatio
solution for injection, we have an option to bridge interruptions in
treatment of adult patients who may be temporarily unable to take this
important therapy in tablet form.”
Revatio is the only phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitor with both oral
and I.V. formulations approved in the European Union for the treatment
of PAH.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a rare, progressive disease that
affects an estimated 100,000 men and women worldwide. This incurable
disease is characterized by continuous high blood pressure in the
pulmonary arteries, leading to heart failure and premature death.
Pulmonary arterial hypertension can occur with no known underlying
cause, or it can be found in association with other disorders such as
connective tissue disease.
“Pulmonary arterial hypertension is a life-threatening disease, and
medical treatment can help delay damage caused by the disease,” said
Jean-Luc Vachiery, M.D., professor of Cardiology and director of the
Pulmonary Vascular Diseases Unit at Clinique Universitaire De Bruxelles
Hopital Erasme (Erasme Hospital) in Belgium and former chairman of the
Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation and Right Ventricular Function of
the European Society of Cardiology. “Now with the approval of Revatio
solution for injection, we have an option to bridge interruptions in
treatment of adult patients who may be temporarily unable to take this
important therapy in tablet form.”