Emphysema drug approved.

Emphysema drug approved

The Food and Drug Administration this week approved the sale of a purified human protein that can slow the progression of emphysema in patients who fail to produce enough of a critical lung-protecting protein. Up to 40,000 people in the United States have a genetic deficiency of the protein, alpha-1 proteinase inhibitor, also known as alpha-1 antitrypsin (SN: 5/2/87, p.277). Of these, perhaps 2,000 suffer noticeable lung damage and would be considered candidates for treatment with the newly approved drug. The protein will not help the vast majority of emphysema patients who have developed the disease from environmental factors such as cigarette smoking.