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WASHINGTON (AP) - Patients who suffer from a rare disease that causes continuous high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs received a new treatment choice Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration said it approved Letairis to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension. The condition causes continuous high blood pressure in the arteries that carry oxygen-poor blood from the heart to the lungs. As the arteries narrow, the heart must pump harder, which weakens it with time. The disease affects about 100,000 people in the United States.
The drug, known generically as ambrisentan, is made by Gilead Sciences Inc., based in Foster City, Calif. The company said the drug would be available next week.
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