Increasing Lifestyle Disorders Escalate Need for Breakthrough Renal Disease Treatments

Wednesday 11 July 2012, Amsterdam

The new report, "End-stage Renal Disease Therapeutics - Pipeline Assessment and Market Forecasts to 2019 " shows no targeted therapy currently exists to slow down disease progression in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), who currently rely on expensive options such as dialysis or kidney transplant. This gap in the market could therefore provide opportunities for pharmaceutical companies able to develop drugs to directly treat renal damage and slash healthcare spending.

All drug therapies available now can only provide symptomatic relief - for instance phosphate binders work to reduce dangerous serum phosphorus levels that the kidneys can no longer control themselves. However, phosphate binders Renagel (sevelamer hydrochloride), Renvela (sevelamer carbonate), Fosrenol (lanthanum carbonate) and Phoslo Gelcaps (calcium acetate) all show low patient compliance due to low efficacy and safety profiles, common side effects such as gastrointestinal intolerance, a high pill burden, and a high expense of therapy. There is therefore a distinct need for new drug treatments with improved safety and effectiveness records.

A new molecule offering disease-modifying therapy to treat the underlying causes of ESRD would reduce patient dependence on dialysis and transplantation, transforming the lives of individuals living with renal diseases. Currently, no drugs are able to restore normal kidney function, but the market eagerly waits for a revolutionary drug able to delay disease progression.

Analysis shows that the ESRD pipeline has 17 molecules in various phases of clinical development, including 13 FIC molecules, of which three are in Phase III and one is in pre-registration. MP-146 and Zerenex in Phase III and Peginesatide in the pre-registration Phase are expected to drive the market in the forecast period. Whether any of these will provide a cure and become a blockbuster drug however, remains to be seen.