Bone and Mineral Metabolism Disorders News

It has been said that half of all medical knowledge will be proven wrong. The problem is that we don’t know which half.

Once oral dialysis drugs like Amgen's Sensipar, used to treat hyperparathyroidism, are included in the dialysis payment bundle, it is unlikely that the inevitable drop in sales will match what the biotech firm has seen from its anemia drugs. Although the company said in its most recent conference call on fourth quarter earnings that it controls 95% of the U.S. anemia drug market, the sales of Epogen and Aranesp have declined so heavily in the last couple of years partly because the ESRD payment bundle was released alongside FDA warnings that changed the way nephrologists treat anemia in dialysis patients.

A study led by an international team of researchers found that cinacalcet — a drug commonly prescribed to patients with kidney failure and a disturbance of bone and mineral metabolism known as secondary hyperparathyroidism — does not significantly reduce the risk of death or major cardiovascular events.