FRIDAY, March 31, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- The Asetllas Pharma drug Prograf (tacrolimus) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to prevent heart transplant rejection. Previously approved to prevent similar rejection in recipients of new livers and kidneys, it's the first approved anti-rejection drug for heart transplant patients in eight years, the agency said.
Prograf acts similarly to the standard anti-rejection drug cyclosporine. A U.S. clinical study found that patient survival 12 months after transplantation was 93.5 percent among Prograf users, compared with 86.1 percent who used cyclosporine, the FDA said.
Side effects of Prograf have included nervous system toxicity, kidney impairment, infection, post-transplant diabetes mellitus, and a higher risk of certain cancers, the agency said.
More information
To learn more about transplant rejection, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
