FDA Approves Sarfez Pharmaceuticals’ Soaanz Drug for Edema Treatment in Patients with Heart Failure

Sarfez Pharmaceuticals, founded by Indian American Salim Shah, received FDA approval for its Soaanz drug, which treats patients suffering from heart failure and renal disease. (ascthem.com photo)

India-West Staff Reporter

Vienna, Virginia-based, Indian American-led Sarfez Pharmaceuticals June 21 received approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Soaanz drug, which treats patients suffering from heart failure and renal disease.

The approved drug provides a new treatment option for patients suffering from heart failure who experience persistent edema, swelling in the lower limbs and/or abdomen, despite a loop diuretic therapy. Soaanz provides a longer duration of peak effects without causing excessive urination.

“Soaanz is specifically formulated to reduce excessive urination in heart failure patients. We believe that for many of these patients who are aged 65 and older, the new treatment option now approved by the FDA offers tremendous benefits,” said Sarfez founder and chair Salim Shah. “We look forward to launching Soaanz in the next few months, bringing an effective new treatment option to heart failure patients.”

Soaanz — which had initially been applied for approval by the FDA in the summer of 2019 — offers an alternative treatment for heart failure patients who skip loop diuretic treatment due to concerns with excessive urination, as well as patients with chronic kidney disease.

Loop diuretics are the drug of choice for the treatment of volume overload caused by heart failure and chronic kidney disease. Soaanz is an oral once-a-day tablet with an extended duration of peak effect and with a longer time to reach the peak effect, a news release said.

“Sarfez Pharmaceuticals benefited from grant funding made available by the Small Business Administration and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases during our development of Soaanz,” Shah added. “We are thankful for that support, and we plan to transfer that benefit on to our patients by offering Soaanz at a reasonable price.

“This was an important decision for our team to make because most heart failure patients are insured under Medicare programs and have limited disposable income,” he added. “We feel that lowering our costs to help improve care for these patients is our obligation as a healthcare company.”