New CKD drugs to hit market

Among new drugs for CKD, expected or available any time soon:

Hematide (Affymax Inc.) It's an erythropoetin-stimulating agent (ESA). But unlike existing ESA's, Hematide is not related to erythropoietin chemically or to any other naturally occurring human biochemicals. it's totally artificial. Hence it is not expected to cause the side effects of dosing with synthetic erythropoetin. Hematide’s properties may include monthly administration, relatively uncomplicated chemical synthesis, greater stability than currently marketed products, and room temperature storage.

Feraheme (AMAG , Inc.) The manufacturer claims that "Our iron oxide nanoparticles are composed of bioavailable iron that is easily absorbed by the body and incorporated into the body's iron stores. As a result, products using our core technology are well suited for use in intravenous (IV) iron replacement therapy. Additionally, the superparamagnetic characteristic of our products results in nanoparticles that become strongly magnetic when placed in a magnetic field, but lose their magnetism once the field is removed. Therefore, use of our nanoparticles results in magnetic resonance images that increase the information available to the reviewing physicians." I guess that might come in handy with patients who are getting MRIs to detect other comorbid diseases in those patients, such as cancer.

Generic calcium acetate (Roxane Laboratories). It's a generic equivalent to PhosLo, a prescription phosphorus binder from Genzyme, Inc. Generic calcium acetate was approved by the FDA in October, and has now started shipping.

Renvela (Genzyme, Inc.) For those nephrologists who still prefer the staggering cost of a brand-new prescription phosphorus binder to the cheap generic one now produced by Roxane Laboratories, the manufacturer of PhosLo has come up with Renvela, a buffered form of PhosLo.

http://uk.sys-con.com/node/807353
[Reproduction of the full article is prohibited due to copyright concerns]

http://www.affymax.com/pipeline_hematide.html

http://www.amagpharma.com/products/

http://www.renvela.com/