New options if you have anemia
The first agent in a new class of drugs targeting HIF-PH was approved for treating anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency tasked with approving new drugs in the US, recently approved a new drug for treating anemia, specifically in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis.
The drug, daprodustat, targets the enzyme prolyl hydroxylase (PH) that is responsible for hydroxylating a proline residue on the protein HIF (hypoxia inducible factor).
Normally, when oxygen is abundant, PH uses ambient oxygen to modify HIF in this way, adding a hydroxyl (-OH) group onto the protein, which targets it for degradation.
When oxygen is scarce, a condition known as hypoxia, PH can’t perform this reaction, so HIF accumulates in cells, and triggers expression of a set of genes that allow tissues to get more oxygen, by growing new blood vessels, and to survive better in low oxygen conditions, altering metabolism. Erythropoietin is also induced, making PH inhibitors somewhat akin to treating with erythropoietin itself.
Anemic patients benefit from PH inhibitors, as this helps stimulate a better response to their poor oxygen carrying capacity.
It is always nice to see a new class of drugs, as we can expect additional drugs and indications to emerge from this target class over time.
