Sarfez Pharmaceuticals announced today approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the Virginia-based company’s New Drug Application for Soaanz, a once-a-day improved formulation of the loop diuretic torsemide. 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 Salim Shah, PhD, JD, Founder and Chairman, Sarfez Pharmaceuticals. “We look forward to launching Soaanz in the next few months, bringing an effective new treatment option to heart failure patients.”

Soaanz 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.

“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,” said Dr. Shah. “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. We feel that lowering our costs to help improve care for these patients is our obligation as a healthcare company.”

About Sarfez Pharmaceuticals

Sarfez Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in Vienna, VA. The pharmaceutical research and development company is focused on improving existing drugs to provide better treatment options for cardio-renal diseases. Sarfez Pharmaceuticals is dedicated to creating better treatment options and reducing drug costs by improving existing cardiovascular drugs, offering them at reasonable prices and with greater transparency.