Ferumoxytol for treating iron deficiency anemia in CKD

Iron deficiency is an important cause of anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), but intravenous iron is infrequently used among patients who are not on dialysis. Ferumoxytol is a novel intravenous iron product that can be administered as a rapid injection. This Phase III trial randomly assigned 304 patients with CKD in a 3:1 ratio to two 510-mg doses of intravenous ferumoxytol within 5 +/- 3 d or 200 mg of elemental oral iron daily for 21 d. The increase in hemoglobin at day 35, the primary efficacy end point, was 0.82 +/- 1.24 g/dl with ferumoxytol and 0.16 +/- 1.02 g/dl with oral iron (P < 0.0001). Among patients who were not receiving erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, hemoglobin increased 0.62 +/- 1.02 g/dl with ferumoxytol and 0.13 +/- 0.93 g/dl with oral iron. Among patients who were receiving erythropoiesis-stimulating agents, hemoglobin increased 1.16 +/- 1.49 g/dl with ferumoxytol and 0.19 +/- 1.14 g/dl with oral iron. Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 10.6% of patients who were treated with ferumoxytol and 24.0% of those who were treated with oral iron; none was serious. In summary, a regimen of two doses of 510 mg of intravenous ferumoxytol administered rapidly within 5 +/- 3 d was well tolerated and had the intended therapeutic effect. This regimen may offer a new, efficient option to treat iron deficiency anemia in patients with CKD.