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Erythropoietin offers improved quality of life for dialysis patients
Patients suffering from renal insufficiency often show severe anemia, because injured kidneys are unable to produce sufficient amounts of a hormone called erythropoietin (EPO). EPO is necessary for the maturation and differentiation of red blood cells but its normal serum concentrations are extremely low. The only therapy option for patients with renal anemia was the transfusion of erythrocyte concentrates, which has only a short positive effect and is undesirable because of risks of side effects. An alternative source of EPO was therefore dearly needed.
EPO is a complex glycoprotein containing 165 amino acids and 40% carbohydrates. The integrity of the carbohydrate chains is essential for the biological activity of EPO in vivo. The company Roche therefore chose to produce nature-identical human recombinant EPO in well characterized Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. This allows the production of sufficient EPO for the treatment of dialysis and predialysis patients and other medical conditions.