The current invention relates to the field of hypoxia-induced disorders and more specifically to the use of hypoxia inducible factor 2.alpha. as a target in a method for the screening for molecules that can be used for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. The invention further relates to the use of HIF-2.alpha. and/or of the HIF-2.alpha. inducible protein VEGF for the treatment of neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.