First 'ethnic drug' awaiting approval
The first drug specifically designed for a single ethnic group is awaiting approval in the US.
The first drug specifically designed for a single ethnic group is awaiting approval in the US.
The drug, called BiDil, was tested to treat heart failure in black patients. NitroMed, the company that sponsored the trials, argued that African Americans have a higher rate of heart failure than the American population as a whole and that they tend not to respond to some existing heart failure drugs as well as other groups.
Initially, the drug failed to win approval for general use and ignited controversy when the company tested it only on black Americans, where clinical trials proved it to be highly effective.