Advertise With UsAdvertise on our extensive network of industry websites and newsletters.
Get the PBR newsletterSign up to our free email to get all the latest PBR
news.Vifor Pharma has released results of a subanalysis from the FAIR-HF (Ferinject Assessment in patients with IRon deficiency and Chronic Heart Failure) study which demonstrated that correcting iron deficiency with Ferinject (ferric carboxymaltose) can improve renal function in chronic heart failure (CHF)patients.
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Ferinject is an intravenous (iv) iron product used to treat iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia.
Vifor Pharma said that the authors of the FAIR-HF studied the effects of Ferinject (ferric carboxymaltose) on renal function in iron deficient, anaemic or non-anaemic patients with chronic heart failure (CHF).
In the study, a total of 459 patients with CHF and iron deficiency were studied in 75 sites around the world. Two-thirds of the patients received Ferinject weekly until the iron deficiency was reversed, with monthly treatment (maintenance phase) thereafter until week 24. The remaining patients received a placebo.
Reportedly, In the trial the renal function was evaluated by assessing the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at baseline and throughout the study (at weeks 4, 12 and 24). Increased eGFR corresponds to increased renal function, ie improvement.
The study results suggested that at study weeks 4, 12 and 24, eGFR was found to be increased in patients receiving Ferinject, compared to a small decrease in renal function in the placebo group.
At the end of the study, eGFR had increased by a mean of 3.2ml/min/1.73m2 from baseline in Ferinject-treated patients, whereas in the placebo group, eGFR was reduced by 0.6ml/min/1.73m2.
The difference between the Ferinject and placebo groups was positive. These improvements in eGFR were seen as early as week 4 of the study. The response to Ferinject was independent of the level of renal function at the start of the study, age, sex, CHF severity, or the presence of anaemia.
35% of patients treated with Ferinject have achieved an increase in eGFR of more than 5ml/min/1.73m2, which is considered to be clinically meaningful, whilst 32% of patients on placebo showed a decline in eGFR of more than 5ml/min/1.73m2.
Piotr Ponikowski, professor of cardiology at the Medical University in Wroclaw, Poland, said: “The results of the subanalysis are exciting findings for cardiologists and nephrologists who treat these patients, and need to be investigated further.”