Nesiritide

How it works

BNP, the hormone stretched heart muscle releases, copied to relax blood vessels and flush salt and water in acute heart failure.

What it's made of

32 amino acids: a copy of human BNP, the hormone the ventricles release when they are stretched. It is called “brain” because it was discovered in 1988 in pig brain.

What it's for

Prescribed for

It was approved for acute heart failure with shortness of breath at rest or with minimal effort. Today, in practice, nothing.