FDA Approves Injection To Treat Low Blood Pressure

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an injection called Giapreza.

The injection is for intravenous infusion to increase blood pressure in adults with septic or other distributive shock. The approval came on Thursday.

According to officials at the FDA, shock is the inability to maintain blood flow to vital tissues and can result in organ failure and death. Norman Stockbridge, the director of the Division of Cardiovascular and Renal Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, says "there is a need for treatment options for critically ill hypotensive patients who do not adequately respond to available therapies."

Shock is a critical condition in which blood pressure drops so low the brain, kidneys, and other vital organs can't receive enough blood flow to function properly.

In a clinical treatment trial Giapreza effectively increased blood pressure when added to conventional treatments used to raise blood pressure.

The FDA granted the approval of Giapreza to La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company.

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