The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved a breakthrough treatment that was tested in Boston for people with a rare but often deadly lung disease called pulmonary arterial hypertension. Like many patients, Mike Bennett said the drug has already had a dramatic impact on his life. Diagnosed with BAH more than two decades ago, he remembers when he first felt the symptoms. “I was playing basketball and riding my bike and doing all the things I wanted to do when all of a sudden I couldn’t,” he said. “And my condition was getting worse.” As Bennett quickly discovered, PAH causes the blood vessels in the lungs to narrow, block, or destroy. The damage slows down blood flow, forcing the heart to work even harder.’They gave me three years to live without major medical intervention,” Bennett said. Bennett avoided both. Instead, for the past 25 years, he has switched from one drug to another. He said he always insisted on being part of the next clinical trial. “Psychologically, it was important for me to get a new drug because I just needed hope,” Bennett said. “I had to know there was something else out there.” Then the father of four joined a local trial for Sotatercept. Recently approved by the FDA, the drug is designed to trap proteins in the bloodstream that cause narrowing of blood vessels. “It reduces that growth,” said Dr. Joanna Preston, director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Center at Tufts Medical Center . It’s the same kind of effect that Sotatercept has on the blood vessels in the lungs.” Preston worked with pharmaceutical giant Merck to help develop the drug for her patients, including Bennett. “It improved his ability to function at home, in the family at work,” Preston said. “He had more stamina.” Today, Bennett self-administers a dose of Sotatercept once every three weeks. With the new drug, now marketed as Winrevair, Bennett said he was able to stop IV treatment. The switch means “Dad” no longer has to wear a catheter in his chest. He surprised his two youngest sons last year by swimming with them for the first time. “I have the ability to participating in activities I haven’t been able to do in years,” Bennett said. “And it’s been a huge change for me.”
The US Food and Drug Administration recently approved a breakthrough treatment that was tested in Boston for people with a rare but often deadly lung disease called pulmonary arterial hypertension.
Like many patients, Mike Bennett said the drug has already had a dramatic impact on his life.
Diagnosed with BAH more than two decades ago, he remembers when he first felt the symptoms.
“I was playing basketball and riding my bike and doing everything I wanted to do when all of a sudden I couldn’t,” he said. “And my condition was getting worse.”
As Bennett quickly discovered, BAH causes blood vessels in the lungs to narrow, block, or destroy.
The damage slows blood flow, forcing the heart to work even harder.
“They gave me three years to live without major medical intervention,” Bennett said. “At the time it was a lung transplant or a heart-lung transplant.”
But so far Bennett has avoided both.
Instead, he has switched from one drug to another over the past 25 years.
He said he always insisted on being part of the next clinical trial.
“Psychologically, it was important for me to get a new drug because I just needed hope,” Bennett said. “I should have known there was more there.”
Then the father of four joined a local trial for Sotatercept.
Recently approved by the FDA, the drug is designed to trap proteins in the bloodstream that cause blood vessels to narrow.
“It reduces that growth,” said Dr. Joanna Preston, director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Center at Tufts Medical Center. “Kind of like if you think about a cancer or a tumor that’s growing, and you find an agent that suppresses that growth. It’s the same type of effect that Sotatercept has on the blood vessels in the lungs.”
Preston worked with pharmaceutical giant Merck to help develop the drug for his patients, including Bennett.
“He’s improved his ability to function at home, in his family, at work,” Preston said. “He had more stamina.”
Today, Bennett injects himself with Sotatercept once every three weeks.
With the new drug, now marketed as Winrevair, Bennett said he was able to stop IV treatment. The switch means “Dad” no longer has to wear a catheter in his chest that can’t get wet.
He surprised his two youngest sons last year by swimming with them for the first time.
“I have the ability to participate in activities that I haven’t been able to do in years,” Bennett said. “And that was a huge change for me.”
