Viagra, one of the most famous drugs for erectile dysfunction caused by age and diseases, may also be a drug for pulmonary hypertension in children, according to research by the manufacturer, Pfizer Inc. However, the case has a further bottom – Pfizer Inc. The US registration of the drug is about to end, wrote the economic portal Bloomberg.
According to information provided by Pfizer Inc. Pulmonary hypertension, which usually affects children (600 cases per year in the US), presents with increased pressure in the pulmonary arteries, obstructing the right ventricle and causing chronic fatigue, shortness of breath and chest pain. This disease is classified as serious. According to research conducted by scientists working for the concern, the active ingredient contained in Viagra – sidenafil – causes a gradual reduction in pulmonary artery tone and a drop in pressure in the lungs.
According to Bloomberg, the tests showed positive effects of this type in 234 children. The matter is, however, more complicated, because during the exercise test in sick children, no significant improvement was visible, but in the case of other tests, the decrease in pulmonary pressure was clear. Chad Knoderer, a pediatrician pharmacist at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis told the portal that the drug was well tolerated by children and has few side effects, which is very important.
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA), which decides to register the drug in the United States, began the 29th process of checking whether the tests demonstrated by Pfizer were sufficient and the research process advanced enough to re-register Viagra – this time as a drug for another ailment. The problem, as Bloomberg writes, is that the extension of the registration for six months – as Pfizer wants – means the closing of the American market to Viagra generics for the next six months, which is very displeasing to other pharmaceutical companies, who claim that Pfizer has made public the results of not fully verified studies clinical. If the FDA also approves the extended approval of the drug, then Pfizer will have an open door to extend the US patent for Viagra, which expires in 2012 (PAP).