Australians with renal anaemia now have access to a new simplified treatment option following the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s approval of Mircera.
Mircera (methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta) is the first agent to offer monthly maintenance dosing across different patient groups and is hoped to simplify the management of anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease.
“Managing patients with chronic renal failure is complex and any advance that simplifies the treatment without loss of efficacy will benefit both patients and their carers,” said Dr David Waugh, renal medicine consultant at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.
“Most patients with advanced kidney disease are anaemic and on erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, which are administered either intravenously or by subcutaneous injection. Pre-dialysis patients and those on peritoneal dialysis usually self-administer weekly, or even more frequent, subcutaneous injections. To have less frequent injections will be more convenient and welcomed by patients. A monthly treatment for renal anaemia also fits in with the current procedures to do blood tests monthly,” Dr Waugh said.
Dr Waugh said during his recent observations of a dialysis centre in Germany that had converted patients to once monthly treatment with Mircera, he also observed benefits to health care staff in terms of resource time and clinic efficiency. “It is all about simplification for the patient and for the health care system,” he said.