( hat at the time patients reach ESRD mo...)Mircera Effective in Stabilising Haemoglobin Levels in Elderly,Patients With Kidney Disease on Dialysis,Health

These patients bear a significant disease burden that impacts their long-term prognosis. The United States Renal Data System indicates that elderly dialysis patients are:

-- Expected to live ten years less than their healthy counterparts of the same age

    -- More likely to have heart disease than healthy patients


    -- More likely to have strokes than their healthy counterparts


    -- At increased risk for death from cardiovascular events

About the WCN Clinical Analysis

Today's analysis was based on data from two trials (MAXIMA and PROTOS) which were part of the largest clinical development program ever for the treatment of renal anaemia. In these two trials 1,245 dialysis patients were randomized to remain on their current epoetin treatment administered up to three times or week or to be switched (converted) directly to MIRCERA administered IV or SC once every two weeks or once every four weeks.

Initial findings from the MIRCERA Phase III program, which included four conversion/maintenance and two initiation/correction studies, were presented at the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association congress in June 2006 and at the American Society of Nephrology's Renal Week in November 2006. The maintenance study results showed that for the first time, patients with CKD on dialysis treated with short-acting and frequently administered epoetin anti-anaemia drugs can be switched successfully and directly to a once-monthly treatment. In the correction studies, the findings showed CKD patients on dialysis, as well as those not on dialysis who need correction of renal anaemia, can be successfully treated with MIRCERA on a simple twice-monthly dosing schedule.

About MIRCERA

MIRCERA, a continuous erythropo
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