Gaithersburg, Md. – In a major reprieve for Amgen Inc., an FDA advisory panel decided Tuesday not to recommend strict limits on doses of the company’s anemia medicines for kidney disease and dialysis patients.
After a daylong meeting during which outside experts and Amgen representatives made presentations to the panel, its 19 members voted to recommend the Food and Drug Administration not restrict what doses of the drugs doctors prescribe for patients.
The drugs, sold under the brand names Aranesp and Epogen, treat anemia by boosting red blood cell production and raising hemoglobin levels in the blood. A similar product, Procrit, is sold by Johnson & Johnson.
The medications often are prescribed to chemotherapy patients and patients with kidney failure. They accounted for 50 percent of the sales of Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Amgen last year.
