ARIES - Ambrisentan in Patients With Moderate to Severe Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH)

ARIES 1 and ARIES 2: Ambrisentan in PAH - A Phase III, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Multicenter, Efficacy Study of Ambrisentan in Subjects With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension

The primary objective is to determine the effect of ambrisentan on exercise capacity in subjects with PAH.

ARIES-1 in North America and Australia

ARIES-2 in Western and Eastern Europe, South America and Israel

Subjects in these randomized studies will receive one of two doses of ambrisentan or placebo. Inclusion is not based on a specified WHO functional classification. Rather, subjects with WHO Class I-IV symptoms are eligible if their 6-minute walk distance is 150-450 meters and they meet the study-specified hemodynamic criteria. Subjects with anorexigen or HIV infection related PAH are eligible but subjects with congenital heart disease and pediatric subjects are excluded. The study requires a historical cardiac catheterization and other diagnostic procedures.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of idiopathic PAH (formally known as PPH), or PAH associated with collagen vascular disease, anorexigen use, or HIV infection;
• Historical cardiac catheterization with the following hemodynamic criteria:

Mean pulmonary artery pressure greater than or equal to 25 mmHg; Pulmonary vascular resistance greater than 3 mmHg/L/min; Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure or left ventricular end diastolic pressure less than 15 mmHg;

• 6-minute walk distance of at least 150 meters, but no more than 450 meters;
• Total lung capacity greater than or equal to 70% and FEV1 greater than or equal to 65% of predicted normal;

Exclusion Criteria:

• Portopulmonary hypertension;
• Subjects with PAH due to or associated with coronary artery disease, left heart disease, interstitial lung disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, veno-occlusive disease, chronic thromboembolic disease, or sleep apnea;
• Bosentan (Tracleer®), sildenafil (Viagra®), or chronic prostanoid therapy within 4 weeks of screening;
• Serum ALT or AST lab value that is greater than 1.5 times the upper limit of normal;
• Contraindication to treatment with an endothelin receptor antagonist;
• Subject with cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, hematologic, gastrointestinal, immunologic, endocrine, metabolic, or central nervous system disease that may adversely affect the safety of the subject;
• Participation in a clinical study involving another investigational drug within 4 weeks of screening.