The F.D.A. announced today that it has given approval to Sanofi to treat atrial fillibration, a heart disorder that affects 2.5 million United States citizens.

Paris-Sanofi, the manufacturer of the drug hopes that "the medicine will be a blockbuster and help replace declining revenue as drugs that now account for 20 percent of its sales lose their patent protection over the next few years," the New York Times reported.

While money might be a driving factor in the creation of this drug, it is impossible to ignore the benefits of such a drug in the treatment of atrial fillibration. Sanofi is the first new drug in years made available by the F.D.A. for doctors to use to treat the flutter. 

Said Dr. Norman Stockbridge, director of the cardiovascular center of the F.D.A. "This is really the first anti-arrhythmic drug that has an outcome benefit."

To read the full article, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/03/business/global/03sanofi.html?_r=1&ref=health