Patients with chronic heart failure, a deadly disease that worsens as the heart pumps less blood through the body, are getting a much-needed new option.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a novel drug from Amgen for reducing hospitalizations in some heart failure patients.

Corlanor (coor'LAHN'-or) is the first medication in a dozen years for the increasingly common condition.

Chronic heart kills up to half of patients within five years, despite numerous existing treatments.

Rival drugmaker Novartis has another heart failure pill under review by the FDA. It could be approved this summer.

Roughly 6 million Americans and 26 million people worldwide have heart failure, mostly as a chronic condition.

It's becoming more common along with obesity and because more people survive heart attacks due to better treatments.