Health Highlights: Feb. 6, 2009

Feb. 7 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

FDA OKs 1st Drug From Genetically Altered Animals

The first drug made with materials from genetically engineered animals gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval Friday, potentially paving the way for a new class of medical therapies.

GTC Biotherapeutics said federal regulators approved its drug, ATryn, which includes milk from goats that have been genetically altered to produce an extra protein that acts as a natural blood thinner, the Associated Press reported.

The drug will be used to treat the estimated one in 5,000 people with a rare hereditary disorder -- hereditary antithrombin deficiency -- that leads to a lack of the protein, leaving them vulnerable to potentially deadly blood clots, the news service said.

Patients with hereditary antithrombin deficiency are currently treated with conventional blood thinners, such as Plavix. That approach won't change with the approval of ATryn. The new drug is only approved for intravenous use when patients are undergoing surgery or having a baby, when the risk of blood clots is particularly high, the AP said.

European regulators approved the drug in 2006.

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First U.S. Face Transplant Patient Leaves Hospital

The woman who received the first face transplant in the United States has left the Cleveland hospital where she has been since her 22-hour surgery in early December, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Officials at the Cleveland Clinic said the woman left Thursday night, but would not say where she went. The patient, whose identity has not been revealed, and her family have declined requests for comment, the wire service reported.

According to the woman's surgeon, she is able to eat solid foods and breathe on her own for the first time since her disfiguring injury several years ago that left her with no nose, palate, or way to eat or breathe normally, the AP said.