AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) announced that Forxiga has been approved in China to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death and hospitalisation for heart failure.
The therapy can be used in adults with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction and without type-2 diabetes.
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Heart failure is a life-threatening chronic disease that prevents the heart from pumping sufficient levels of blood around the body.
At least half of patients with this condition have a reduced ejection fraction, which occurs when the left ventricle muscle can’t contract properly, and so expels less oxygen-rich blood into the body.
The approval is based on positive results from a late-stage trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
"There is no known cure for chronic heart failure except for heart transplantation, which is why there is an urgent need for new treatment options that can improve symptoms and help patients live longer,” said Mene Pangalos, executive vice president BioPharmaceuticals R&D at the FTSE 100 drugs group in a statement.
“This approval marks another important step forward in our ambition to improve outcomes for millions of people worldwide living with this life-threatening disease," he added.
AstraZeneca shares rose 1% to 7,394p on Thursday morning.