Veropaque for Cardiology

A kidney-safe contrast product is urgently needed for the approximately 5 million cardiology procedures that use iodinated contrast every year. Existing contrast products cause significant kidney impairment in about 10% of cardiology patients, a condition called contrast induced nephropathy (CIN).

The consequences of CIN in patients already suffering from cardiovascular disease can be truly life-threatening. For patients undergoing coronary intervention, CIN increases the likelihood of in-hospital death by 3 to 5 times, and has a similar impact on longer-term prognosis. When CIN is bad enough to require temporary dialysis after coronary intervention, it leads to a mortality rate after two years of over 80%.

Based on a contrast molecule already in wide use, Veropaque can become the standard of care in this growing, billion-dollar market. Its adoption will be driven by downstream cost savings as well as patient benefit, because the cost of CIN to payers is considerable: a 2007 study found CIN to cost over $10,000 per patient affected, due to longer hospital stays with more complications.