Bayer AG - Leverkusen, Germany-based pharmaceutical company - Says its AB-1005 congestive heart disease therapy has received Fast Track designation from the US Food & Drug Administration. The FDA's Fast Track designation expedites the development and review of new drugs which it believes address significant unmet medical needs. The drug is being developed by Bayer's subsidiary Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc, which is currently enrolling patients for phase II trials of AB-1005.

Canwen Jiang, chief development officer and chief medical officer at Asklepios, says: "The FDA Fast Track designation for AB-1002 is an important accomplishment for the clinical development of this program and highlights our goal of bringing potentially effective treatments to patients with advanced congestive heart failure."

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By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter

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