Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News
  • Published:

New blood-boosting drugs aim to staunch renal anemia

Nature Medicine volume 18, page 332 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

For the nearly 90% of individuals with severe chronic kidney disease who suffer from anemia, the standard of care can be burdensome. Two or three times a week, these individuals must visit dialysis clinics to receive injections of epoetin, a recombinant version of the erythropoietin hormone that stimulates red blood cells to form. Although longer-lasting protein analogs of erythropoietin are available, the only one approved in the US—Amgen's Aranesp (darbepoetin)—still requires biweekly injections for individuals on dialysis.

Longer-acting agents for dialysis patients could be on the way, though. In December, a US Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted overwhelmingly to approve peginesatide, the first once-monthly anemia drug for individuals on dialysis. The treatment requires fewer injections and also boasts a unique structure that helps it circumvent a rare yet serious complication of epoetin drugs. The regulatory agency expects to make a final decision before the end of March.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Authors
  1. Melinda Wenner Moyer
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moyer, M. New blood-boosting drugs aim to staunch renal anemia. Nat Med 18, 332 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0312-332a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0312-332a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing