Natrecor

Nesiritide

Natrecor (nesiritide) was approved for sale in the United States for the treatment of heart failure in 2001. Heart failure, sometimes known as congestive heart failure or CHF, should not be confused with a heart attack or cardiac arrest in which the heart stops beating. Heart failure occurs when the heart is unable to pump a sufficient amount of blood through the body to support normal organ function.

Natrecor is administered intravenously and works by stimulating a chemical compound inside heart cells that compels the heart muscles to work harder. This allows the blood vessels to open wider, which reduces the amount of blood pooling in the heart and moves it out into the body, easing blood pressure and stress on the heart. The FDA approved Natrecor for use in hospital settings to help improve patients’ breathing. According to Dr. Milton Packer, the chairman of the FDA advisory panel which approved the drug, Natrecor was approved for use in a very limited group of heart failure patients - specifically, those who struggled for breath even while at rest and were hospitalized at the time.