Corporate Snapshot
CoTherix, Inc. ("CoTherix" or "the Company") is a biopharmaceutical company focused on licensing, developing, and commercializing therapeutic products for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. The Company's strategy is to in-license products or product candidates that are in mid- to late-stage clinical development. CoTherix currently markets Ventavis® (iloprost) Inhalation Solution, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December 2004 and launched in March 2005 for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Functional Class III or IV symptoms (World Health Organization [WHO] Group I). PAH is a highly debilitating disease characterized by severe constriction of the pulmonary blood vessels, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood through the lungs to be oxygenated. Patients suffer from shortness of breath, fatigue, and have a marked limitation in their physical activities. Ventavis, a synthetic compound, is structurally similar to prostacyclins - naturally-occurring molecules that cause the blood vessels to dilate. PAH affects approximately 50,000 patients in the U.S., with only about 30% diagnosed and receiving treatment. To expand its product portfolio, CoTherix in-licensed fasudil on June 23, 2006 from Japan-based Asahi Kasei Pharma to develop the oral and inhaled forms as a treatment for PAH and chronic stable angina in North America and Europe. The intravenous form of fasudil is currently approved in Japan for the prevention of cerebral vasospasm in patients with subarachnoid hemorrhage. Fasudil is the only rho-kinase inhibitor that has been tested in clinical trials. With a unique mechanism of action, fasudil has shown promise as a therapy for the management of cardiovascular and pulmonary vascular diseases. CoTherix expects to conduct clinical trials to evaluate fasudil's therapeutic potential.
* The Corporate Snapshot was last updated on July 31, 2006.
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2006-07-31
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