Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) are widely used to treat anaemia in patients with kidney disease. A potential alternative approach is to increase erythropoietin production using small-molecule inhibitors of prolyl hydroxylase domain (PHD) enzymes. Recent phase III trials of the PHD inhibitor roxadustat demonstrate similar efficacy and safety to ESAs.
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Work in the author’s laboratory is funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Rosetrees Trust.
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P.H.M. is a scientific founder and holds equity in ReOx Ltd. He has received a speaker honorarium from Fibrogen. He is head of the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cambridge, which has strategic partnerships with AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, both of which are developing PHD inhibitors for the treatment of renal anaemia.
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Maxwell, P.H. A new approach to treating renal anaemia. Nat Rev Nephrol 15, 731–732 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-019-0207-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-019-0207-7
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