The FDA has greenlighted a new drug developed by Pfizer to treat a dangerous heart condition.
The drug, tafadimis, is taken orally and is the first-ever FDA approved medication for transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy, a rare and fatal heart disease. Despite the fact that the condition only impacts about 100,000 patients in the U.S., analysts forecasted that the medication could reach blockbuster status within five years.
The FDA gave tafadimis breakthrough status last year. In clinical trials, it reduced the rate of death by 30 percent compared to a placebo.
Many of the patients who take tafadimis for this disease will be older and on Medicare. But Pfizer said it is confident that insurers will reimburse the $225,000-a-year treatment.
Read the full Reuters report.
