Johnson & Johnson’s Opsumit (macitentan) has shown significant improvement in pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) in patients with portopulmonary hypertension (PoPH) after 24 weeks, in data published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.
Treatment with Opsumit significantly improved the primary endpoint of PVR, with a 35% reduction as well as showing improvements across secondary endpoint hemodynamic parameters, including mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP), cardiac index (CI), and total pulmonary resistance (TPR) in patients with PoPH.
The treatment was was well-tolerated by most patients and had a similar hepatic safety profile to that observed with Opsumit in patients with PAH.
Nick Kim, Professor of Medicine, section chief of Pulmonary Vascular Medicine at the University of California commented: “The PORTICO study is novel in that it is the first randomised, controlled trial of a PAH therapy (macitentan) conducted specifically in patients with portopulmonary hypertension (PoPH). These findings provide important clinical evidence to help inform treatment decisions and fill an unmet need that should benefit patients living with PoPH.”
PoPH is defined as PAH associated with portal hypertension, with or without cirrhosis and represents 5-16% of the PAH patient population. PAH is a severe and progressive disease that is characterised by high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs.
