Female angina trial set
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- HealthDay News noted a trial testing a genetically-engineered treatment in women who have angina, the piercing chest pain that can bedevil millions of Americans with heart disease, was given fast-track status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The study will enroll about 300 women at 50
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medical centers, said Dr. Randall Moreadith, chief medical officer of Cardium Therapeutics Inc., which developed the therapy. They will receive infusions of a harmless virus engineered to carry a gene that promotes development of new blood vessels. The pain of angina is caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle. FDA pushing a trial of the therapy indicates the urgent need for a new treatment, said Christopher J. Reinhard, chief executive office of Cardium. "These are patients who are getting maximum drug medication, have had bypass surgery, and continue to have recurrent angina. They have nowhere else to turn."
