Epogen, Procrit, Epoetin Alfa News

ISLAMABAD : High doses of an anaemia drug used by kidney patients could be fatal, causing heart diseases and stroke, say new clinical studies.

Cancer patients taking drugs to stimulate red blood cell production and cut the risk of anemia are twice as likely to develop blood clots in the lungs or legs, a decade-long study has found.

Cancer patients who took drugs to cut the risk of anemia were twice as likely to develop blood clots in the lungs or legs as other patients, a decade-long study of more than 55,000 cancer patients has found.

Cancer-related insomnia can be improved by behavioral therapy but not epoetin alfa, according to two studies published online Nov.

Amgen Inc. on Friday was sued by 14 states and the District of Columbia, which accuse the Thousand Oaks biotech of offering kickbacks to medical providers to boost sales of its troubled anemia drug Aranesp.

Presentations at American Society of Nephrology Renal Week 2009 Characterize Binding, Immunogenicity Profile for Hematide PALO ALTO, Calif.

A new study raises fresh safety concerns about widely used anemia medicines, finding that the drug Aranesp nearly doubled the risk of stroke in people with diabetes and chronic kidney problems who are not yet sick enough to need dialysis.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services plans to convene an advisory panel next March to provide input on establishing a national coverage decision for the use of anemia drugs, such as Amgen Inc.'s Epogen and Centocor Ortho Biotech Product LP's Procrit , in patients with chronic kidney disease .

It's official. AMAG Pharmaceuticals is a one-drug wonder . The company announced last night that its iron replacement, Feraheme, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

In June 1989 Amgen, a small biotechnology company in Thousand Oaks, Calif., gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to market its first product, epoetin alfa , to treat the anemia that accompanies end-stage kidney failure.

When President Barack Obama spoke to the American Medical Assn. on June 15, he tossed out some pretty impressive numbers for savings that would be achieved by implementing various health reform ideas.

Hospira Inc. presented two posters at the World Congress of Nephrology reporting new data and analysis on epoetin zeta , its biosimilar epoetin.

The Quality and Purity of Biosimilar Epoetin Zeta is Demonstrated Through Comparative Analysis with Epoetin Alfa - Presented at WCN 2009 - Retacrit also shown to maintain haemoglobin levels in patients aged 18-75 with Chronic Kidney Disease irrespective of age - MILAN, Italy, May 25, 2009 Hospira Inc.

HORSHAM,A Pa. An analysis sponsored by Johnson & Johnsona s biotech division and published in the Journal of Medical Economics has shown that one of its cancer drugs costs less than a competing drug from Amgen.

HX575 is a human recombinant epoetin alfa that was approved for use in Europe in 2007 under the European Medicines Agency biosimilar approval pathway.

The analysis, published in the Spring issue of the Journal of Medical Economics , was sponsored by Centocor Ortho Biotech Services, LLC.

Two new studies provide more evidence that drugs such as Procrit and Aranesp, often used by cancer patients to fight anemia-linked fatigue, may boost the risk of death and serious adverse events such as blood clots.