U.S. Nephrologists Report a Decreasing Trend in the Treatment Prevalence of ESAs; Physicians Find High Interest in HIF Inhibitors SFP, Zerenex and CTAP101

EXTON, Pa., Jan. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BioTrends Research Group, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for specialized biopharmaceutical issues, finds declining erythropoietic stimulating agents (ESAs) treatment prevalence in hemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis, Stage 4 CKD and Stage 3 CKD patient populations. Physicians expect also continued declines over the next six months, according to a recent BioTrends survey of 306 U.S. nephrologists.

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Despite declines in ESA treatment prevalence, unaided awareness of Affymax / Takeda's recently approved Omontys^® (peginesatide) is high, with 40 percent of respondents mentioning the product as recent news in the renal anemia market, followed by HIF inhibitors with just 7 percent. The study also found that familiarity with both Akebia's AKB-6548 and Fibrogen's and Astellas's FG-4592/ASP1517—two new HIF-PH inhibitors currently in clinical development—is extremely low. However, interest is high for both products after respondents read a short product profile and over half believe these products can be used before an ESA.

Familiarity is also low for Soluble Ferric Pyrophosphate (SFP) from Rockwell Medical, an investigational drug for iron therapy that BioTrends has been tracking for several quarters, yet interest is high with nearly 50 percent indicating high interest for the product, after reading a product description.

After reading a brief profile on Zerenex, an iron-based phosphate binder in Phase III clinical development by Keryx, most physicians report moderate or high interest in this therapy, with a slight preference in its use in dialysis patients versus CKD-ND patients. Nearly 30 percent believe Zerenex will likely be used in combination with other binders.  Physician familiarity with Cytochroma's CTAP101, capsules for the treatment of vitamin D insufficiency, is low at this point in time but respondents estimate that nearly 35 percent of dialysis patients are likely candidates for the product. Also, 23 percent believe CTAP101 will likely be used in combination with active vitamin D.

"2012 was a year with a few significant events for the nephrology community, including the launch of Omontys and the termination of the BEACON trial and EVOLVE study results announced at the American Society of Nephrology," said Rob Dubman, Associate Therapeutic Class Director Nephrology. "Looking ahead, 2013 will likely be marked with late-stage clinical trial results (e.g., Zerenex, HIF Inhibitors, SFP and PA21) and continued changes in the treatment of renal anemia in dialysis patients."

TreatmentTrends^®: US Nephrology is a syndicated quarterly report series, based on primary market research that provides a comprehensive view of the current and expected future management of renal anemia and bone and mineral metabolism in patients with kidney disease. The Q4 2012 wave was fielded with 306 nephrologists in mid-November 2012. A parallel report covering the European Bone and Mineral Metabolism market published in December 2012.

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SOURCE BioTrends Research Group

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