Rising numbers of heart disease patients are catching the eye of investors and biopharmaceutical companies.
One
investment website is pushing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) as the “next big thing in cardiology” as far as a financial investment is considered.
Cardiology Coder’s Pink Sheet subscribers know TAVR became a Category I code in 2013 and now Medicare payment for the procedures normally exceeds $1,000.
The TAVR procedure allows for the installation of an artificial heart valve by means of a catheter rather than through open-heart surgery. The medical procedure not only reduces the time a patient spends in the hospital – both in surgery and recuperating – but can provide an option for high-risk patients. The website’s article focuses on the U.S.’s aging population – which increases the likelihood for more encounters with heart disease.
And a 2013 report on cardiovascular disease issued by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (
PhRMA) harps on the development of 215 medicines for heart disease and stroke. Medicines in development include 30 for heart failure, 29 for lipid disorders, 19 for stroke and 17 each for high blood pressure and ischemic disorders.
The drugs are at differing phases of testing – but heart failure and lipid disorders have the most candidates in phase III clinical trials, and lipid drugs also have the most in phase I consideration.