Chronic preclinical safety evaluation of Hematide, a pegylated peptidic erythropoiesis stimulating agent in monkeys.

Hematide is a synthetic peptide-based, pegylated erythropoiesis stimulating agent in clinical development for treatment of anemia. To support chronic clinical dosing requirements, a 9-month repeat dose IV monkey safety study was undertaken. Animals received 0, 0.2, 2 or 20 mg/kg hematide IV every three weeks for nine months followed by a 14-week recovery. Hematide administration was associated with time and dose-dependent polycythemia. Histological findings were related to exaggerated pharmacology that was secondary to the administration of an erythropoiesis stimulating agent to a normocythemic animal. In conclusion, these results support the use of repeated administration of hematide for the correction of anemia.