De novo weekly and biweekly darbepoetin alfa dosing in pediatric patients with chronic kidney disease

Background Darbepoetin alfa is a commonly prescribed erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) for correcting anemia in pediatric chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. However, little information exists on its use in ESA-naïve patients. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of darbepoetin alfa in pediatric patients initiating ESA therapy. Methods One-hundred sixteen pediatric ESA-naïve subjects (aged 1-18 years) with CKD stages 3-5D and hemoglobin (Hb) Results In both groups, mean Hb concentrations increased to [greater than or equal to]11.0 g/dl over the first 3 months of treatment and remained stable within the 10.0-12.0 g/dl target range. The median time to achieve hemoglobin [greater than or equal to]10 g/dl was slightly longer for subjects Conclusions Darbepoetin alfa can be safely administered either QW or Q2W to ESA-naïve pediatric patients with CKD-related anemia to achieve Hb targets of 10.0-12.0 g/dl.
Author(s): Bradley A. Warady [sup.1] , John Barcia [sup.2] , Nadine Benador [sup.3] , Augustina Jankauskiene [sup.4] , Kurt Olson [sup.5] , Ludmila Podracka [sup.6] , Aleksey Shavkin [sup.7] , [...]