Surveyed physicians report that acute kidney injury (AKI) is difficult to manage

BURLINGTON, Mass., Nov. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources Group finds that according to 44 percent of surveyed nephrologists and 37 percent of surveyed critical care physicians, AKI is highly difficult to manage and over 50 percent of both physician groups believe AKI is moderately difficult to manage. Current treatment and prevention options are limited and focus on supportive care. In addition, AKI management has remained largely unchanged in recent years.

Other key findings from the report entitled TreatmentTrends: Acute Kidney Injury (US) 2015:

• Causes of AKI: Across both physician groups, infection (sepsis) is the leading cause of AKI. Other common causes include severe heart disease as well as nephrotoxic medications such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, diuretics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and others.
• Current AKI diagnosis: A combination of both serum creatinine and urine output is used to diagnose AKI by both surveyed nephrologists and critical care physicians and use of biomarkers for diagnosis is currently rare.
• Key Treatment Approaches for AKI: According to surveyed physicians, fluid management, withdrawal of offending medications, intermittent hemodialysis, and bicarbonate are the most common treatment approaches for AKI.
• Challenges in AKI Treatment: Over a third of surveyed nephrologists mention lack of new and specific treatments and challenges with existing therapeutic approaches most often as a key challenge in the management of AKI. Critical care physicians cite fluid management as their biggest challenge in the management of AKI.
• Top needs in AKI: The top needs for AKI are considered to be improving treatment of established AKI, aiding its prevention and identifying improved markers for earlier diagnosis. Patients with AKI due to sepsis are considered the group for which there is the highest need for new agents to prevent and treat AKI.
• Alkaline phosphatase, CMX-2043, THR-184, Bendavia: Surveyed physicians reported moderate interest after reviewing the product profiles in clinical development for AM-Pharma's alkaline phosphatase, Ischemix's CMX-2043, Thrasos Therapeutics' THR-184 and Stealth BioTherapeutics' Bendavia. The report also discusses percentage of patients who would be likely candidates for these therapies after reviewing product profiles.

Comments from Decision Resources Group Business Insights Analyst Jihan Khan, Ph.D:

• "AKI is a complex indication and extremely difficult to treat. The disease poses potentially catastrophic complications, including mortality. Although currently there are no products indicated to treat AKI, the pipeline is growing with many new agents in clinical development that may be able to address this complex patient population."

For more information on purchasing these reports, please email [email protected].

About Decision Resources Group
Decision Resources Group offers best-in-class, high-value data, analytics and insights products and services to the healthcare industry, delivered by more than 900 employees across 14 global locations. DRG provides the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, financial services and payer industries with the tools, insights and advice they need to compete and thrive in an increasingly complex and value-based marketplace. DecisionResourcesGroup.com.

Media contact:

SHIFT Communications
Theresa Masnik
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[email protected]

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SOURCE Decision Resources Group

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