'Once-in-a-decade' Novartis drug for heart failure approved by FDA

Our Take

The internet, everyone from investors to healthcare professionals, is buzzing about the FDA's approval of Entresto tablet, used for the treatment of heart failure.

Entresto, made by Novartis, was reviewed under the FDA’s priority review program, which provides for expedited review of drugs that are intended to treat a serious disease or condition and may provide a significant improvement over available therapy. It was also granted fast track designation, which supports FDA’s efforts to facilitate the development and expedite the review of drugs to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and fill an unmet medical need, according to an FDA press release. 

Besides being shown to reduce the rate of cardiovascular death and hospitalization related to heart failure, there are some other reasons the drug is getting so much attention, including the estimated $5 billion in sales it is estimated to generate. 

The news of the Food and Drug Administration's approval of a new heart failure drug by Novartis was met this week with unusually strong enthusiasm from the medical community. Clyde Yancy, a cardiologist, told MedPage Today, "YEAH!" Yancy, chief of the division of cardiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said he had already received e-mails from patients requesting access to the drug.Read full article >>.

Read More at Washington Post