We have initiated a clinical development program with ferric pyrophosphate citrate for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in the home infusion setting.
About Home Infusion Therapy
Home infusion therapy is a rapidly growing segment of healthcare which allows patients with diseases requiring regular infusions of intravenous medications to be treated in the comfort of their own homes and avoid costly and inconvenient visits to hospitals our outpatient infusion clinics. The number of patients served by home infusion therapy grew from approximately 800,000 in 2010 to over 3,000,000 in 2019REF 1. This rapid expansion is expected to continue, driven by cost savings for health care providers and ongoing safety concerns for at-risk patients related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iron Deficiency Anemia: A Comorbidity for Many Home Infusion Patients
Many home infusion patients suffer from disease states which require prolonged, continuous, or even chronic infusions. Depending on the nature of the disease and therapy, there are secondary comorbidities that often develop. One of the more common is iron deficiency anemia (IDA) – a condition that can result from steady losses of iron, poor absorption of iron, lack of iron in the diet, chronic inflammation, or a combination of these factors.
If left untreated...Iron deficiency anemia can lead to serious health risks including...
Severe fatigue and low quality of life
Immune system compromise
Heart failure
Current IDA Treatment Patterns are Inadequate
Anemia may be diagnosed by a simple blood test, yet it remains widely under-diagnosed and treated. The current first line of therapy for patients with iron deficiency anemia is oral iron supplementation. Oral supplementation is readily available, inexpensive, and safe; however, it is often poorly tolerated, insufficiently absorbed, or not effective in delivering enough bioavailable iron for patients with chronic disease and inflammatory conditions.
The use of intravenous iron as a supplement has been limited in routine clinical practice, in part due to concerns regarding the risk of infrequent but serious side effects.REF 2 Newer and safer intravenous iron preparations are now available, but require an office or infusion clinic visit, disruption to the patient routine, and, as a result, are likely currently underutilized.
Rockwell Medical has initiated a clinical development program for ferric pyrophosphate citrate in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in the home infusion setting.
Rockwell Medical has initiated a clinical development program for ferric pyrophosphate citrate in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in the home infusion setting.
Sources:
- 1NHIA Infusion Industry Trends Report 2020.
- 2Jonson-Wimbley TD, Graham DY. Diagnosis and management of iron deficiency anemia in the 21st century. Ther Adv Gastro 2011;4:177-184.