Roxadustat and Oral Iron Absorption in Chinese Patients with Anemia of Chronic Kidney Disease: A Randomized, Open-Label, Phase 4 Study (ALTAI)

Anemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has a high incidence and is associated with many disease conditions. Iron dysmetabolism is an important contributor to anemia in CKD patients.

ALTAI, a randomized, active-controlled, phase 4 trial, investigated the efficacy of roxadustat versus recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) on gastrointestinal iron absorption in patients with anemia of CKD (stage 4/5). The primary endpoint was change from baseline to day 15 in gastrointestinal iron absorption (serum iron area under the concentration-time curve; AUC_0–3h) following single-dose oral iron.

Twenty-five patients with a mean age of 55.1 years were randomized 1:1 to roxadustat (n = 13) or rHuEPO (n = 12). Baseline iron profiles were similar between treatment groups. Change from baseline to day 15 in serum iron AUC_0–3h was not statistically significantly different between the roxadustat and rHuEPO groups. Mean (SD) change from baseline in serum iron AUC_0–3h was 11.3 (28.2) g × 3 h/dl in the roxadustat group and − 0.3 (9.7) g × 3 h/dl in the rHuEPO group. Roxadustat treatment was associated with decreased hepcidin and also increased transferrin, soluble transferrin receptor, and total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), with nominal significance. The proportion of patients experiencing one or more adverse events was 38.5% when treated with roxadustat and 16.7% with rHuEPO.

The study showed no significant difference between roxadustat and rHuEPO in iron absorption but was underpowered because of recruitment challenges.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04655027.