SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CoTherix, Inc. announced today its plans to initiate a first-of-its-kind national disease registry that will retrospectively and prospectively collect observational data to track and study the natural history and medical management of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), World Health Organization Group I. PAH is a chronic, progressive and often fatal disease characterized by severe constriction of the blood vessels in the lungs.
The clinical registry aims to bridge the gap between science and practice by characterizing the current management of PAH patients, describing demographics and clinical features of patients and evaluating treatment patterns and outcomes. The REVEAL (Registry to EValuate Early And Long-term PAH disease management) will be overseen by a steering committee composed of leading scientific advisors. These healthcare professionals will guide the strategic development, implementation and analytical plan of the registry to collect, evaluate and communicate important disease-state and other data.
“A data registry is the only way to derive answers to some very basic questions about PAH that are difficult at this time to approach in any other way,” said Dr. Michael McGoon, Consultant in Cardiovascular Diseases, Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Chairman of the REVEAL Steering Committee. “We need to understand more about various treatments and combinations of treatments in patients with PAH. Today, it is impossible to address every question with a randomized clinical trial, so we need to keep track of what actually happens to a broad spectrum of real patients treated in multiple ways by practicing physicians.”
The REVEAL registry will be a longitudinal, open-label registry for PAH patients in the United States. Enrollment in the REVEAL registry is expected to begin in the first half of 2006 and will include monotherapy patients as well as patients on various combinations of current therapies.
About PAH
PAH affects an estimated 50,000 patients in the United States, with only about 15,000 diagnosed and under treatment. Its cause may be unknown, or result from other diseases that cause a restriction of blood flow to the lungs, including scleroderma, HIV and lupus. Symptoms of the disease include fatigue, shortness of breath on exertion, chest pain and dizziness. Left untreated, the median survival time following diagnosis may be as short as three years.
About CoTherix, Inc.
CoTherix, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on licensing, developing and commercializing therapeutic products for the treatment of cardiopulmonary and other chronic diseases, including PAH. CoTherix and the CoTherix logo are trademarks of CoTherix, Inc. More information can be found at www.cotherix.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, hopes, goals, intentions, initiatives or strategies, including statements regarding the REVEAL registry. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based upon information available to us as of the date hereof, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Events could differ materially from our expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of our registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 27, 2005.
CoTherix, Inc.
CONTACT: Anne Bowdidge, Senior Director of Investor Relations of CoTherix,Inc., +1-650-808-6551
Web site: http://www.cotherix.com/
