FDA approves new treatments for heart disease caused by a serious rare disease, transthyretin mediated amyloidosis
U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Vyndaqel (tafamidis meglumine) and Vyndamax (tafamidis) capsules for the treatment of the heart disease (cardiomyopathy) caused by transthyretin mediated amyloidosis (ATTR-CM) in adults. These are the first FDA-approved treatments for ATTR-CM. Vyndaqel and Vyndamax have the same active moiety, tafamidis, but they are not substitutable on a milligram to milligram basis and their recommended doses differ. “Transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis is a rare, debilitating and often fatal disease,” said Norman Stockbridge, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “The treatments we’re approving today are an important advancement in the treatment of the cardiomyopathy caused by transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis.” ATTR is caused by the buildup of abnormal deposits of specific proteins known as amyloid in the body's organs and tissues, interfering with their ...