Topic: PAH

Johnson & Johnson, the perennial top dog in FiercePharma's annual report profiling leading drug companies, grabbed the No. 1 spot once again.

United Therapeutics was built on Remodulin. The company grew out of a career change for CEO Martine Rothblatt, who built Sirius satellite radio before getting into pharma. Her son’s diagnosis of pulmonary arterial hypertension inspired the move—and Remodulin, which was approved in 2002.

Ranexa has to compete with three other classes of drug that can treat angina, all of which have cheaper generics. Therefore, Evaluate Pharma predicts that the med's worldwide sales, including that from Menarini, will drop dramatically in the coming years to just about $175 million by 2022.

With pulmonary arterial hypertension blockbuster Tracleer aging, Actelion in 2013 won FDA approval for Opsumit. The newcomer and fellow PAH product Uptravi have been able to make up for the hole Tracleer’s decline has left.

The first oral treatment approved to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension, Tracleer is still pulling in big bucks. According to developer Actelion, in 2016, sales of the med declined by 18% at constant exchange rates but still passed the blockbuster barrier.

Letairis is an endothelin receptor antagonist that was first approved in 2007 as a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). In 2015, Letairis was approved to treat PAH when paired with tadalafil.