Renagel study proves effectiveness
Genzyme has reported that patients using Renagel (sevelamer hydrochloride) experienced lower rates of hospitalisation, fewer days in the hospital, and reduced overall health care expenditures compared to patients treated with calcium-based phosphate binders, according to the largest prospective dialysis outcomes study ever conducted.
Genzyme has reported that patients using Renagel (sevelamer hydrochloride) experienced lower rates of hospitalisation, fewer days in the hospital, and reduced overall health care expenditures compared to patients treated with calcium-based phosphate binders, according to the largest prospective dialysis outcomes study ever conducted.
The findings - drawn from the Dialysis Clinical Outcomes Revisited (DCOR) trial - were highlighted in two presentations at the American Society of Nephrology annual meeting in San Diego by a team of study investigators led by Wendy St. Peter, of the Chronic Disease Research Group and the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy.
According to investigators, patients treated with Renagel achieved an 11.0 percent reduction in the rate of all-cause hospitalisation and a 13.3 percent reduction in the number of days spent in the hospital compared with patients using calcium-based phosphate binders - results that were statistically significant. Cause-specific hospitalisation rates, hospitalisation days and morbidity were not statistically different between the two groups.
The difference seen in hospitalisations drove a reduction in overall Medicare costs for patients on Renagel relative to those taking calcium-based binders, as measured in the study. Patients treated with Renagel had costs that were, on average, $2,388 less per year than those treated with calcium-based binders. Outpatient, skilled nursing and other costs were not statistically different between the two treatment groups, according to the investigators. Oral medication costs, including phosphate binders, were not included in the analysis because at the time of the study most oral medications were not covered by Medicare.
