Conditions: End Stage Renal Disease Anemia
Keywords: Kidney End Stage Renal Disease ESRD Chronic Kidney Disease CKD Renal Anemia Oral anemia treatment Hemoglobin levels Blood count Erythropoietin Hemodialysis Normoresponder Hyporesponder
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 161
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of roxadustat in participants with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on maintenance hemodialysis (HD) therapy, previously treated with intravenous (IV) epoetin alfa.

Detailed description:
Dose ranging study with consecutive cohorts in two participant populations: participants normally responding to current anemia treatment (epoetin alfa) ("normoresponders": participants with baseline epoetin alfa dose at study entry 75 to 450 international units \[IU\]/kilograms \[kg\]/week) and participants not responding well to current treatment ("hyporesponders": participants with maintenance epoetin alfa dose above 450 IU/kg/week). Normoresponders are randomized to study drug roxadustat or epoetin alfa at a ratio of 3:1; hyporesponders are randomized to study drug roxadustat or epoetin alfa or placebo at a ratio of 2:1:1. The study objectives are to demonstrate that roxadustat is effective in maintaining hemoglobin (Hb) levels when converting from epoetin alfa and to establish optimum starting doses and dose adjustment regimens for Hb maintenance.

Arms:
arm 1: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 25-85 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 1.0 milligrams (mg)/kg, administered orally 3 times weekly (TIW) in the morning of the day after dialysis (interdialytic days) for 6 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 grams \[g\]/deciliter \[dL\]) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 2: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 25-85 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg, administered orally TIW for 6 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 3: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 25-85 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 2.0 mg/kg, administered orally TIW for 6 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 4: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 25-85 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 1.8 mg/kg, administered orally TIW for 6 weeks. Participants who have not completed 6-week treatment at the time of Amendment 2, will continue treatment for up to 19 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 5: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 85-115 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 1.8 mg/kg, administered orally TIW for 19 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 6: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 25-115 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 1.3 mg/kg, administered orally TIW for 19 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 7: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 25-115 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive tiered, weight-based initial doses of roxadustat (approximately 1.3 mg/kg/dose TIW). Low weight (40 to 60 kg), medium weight (\>60 to 90 kg), and heavy weight (\>90 to 140 kg) participants will receive roxadustat 70 mg, 100 mg, and 150 mg, respectively, administered as oral capsules for 19 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 8: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 25-115 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive tiered, weight-based initial doses of roxadustat (approximately 1.5 mg/kg/dose TIW). Low weight (40 to 60 kg), medium weight (\>60 to 90 kg), and heavy weight (\>90 to 140 kg) participants will receive roxadustat 70 mg, 120 mg, and 200 mg, respectively, administered as oral capsules for 19 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 9: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 85-150 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 2.0 mg/kg, administered orally TIW for 19 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 10: Normoresponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 25-115 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive tiered, weight-based initial doses of roxadustat (approximately 1.5 mg/kg/dose TIW). Low weight (40 to 60 kg), medium weight (\>60 to 90 kg), and heavy weight (\>90 to 140 kg) participants will receive roxadustat 70 mg, 120 mg, and 200 mg, respectively, administered as oral capsules for 19 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 11: Normoresponsive participants will receive IV epoetin alfa treatments on Day 1, at their prestudy dose and according to their prestudy dosing schedule (TIW). Epoetin alfa dosing will occur on dialysis days in each Cohort A. Dose adjustment will be per local standard of care (exclusive of IV iron) for routine maintenance of stable Hb levels on dialysis participants. arm 12: Hyporesponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage 125-400 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 1.5 mg/kg, administered orally TIW for 6 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 13: Hyporesponsive participants (with baseline epoetin alfa dosage \>115 IU/kg/dose at study entry) will receive roxadustat capsules at a dose of 2.0 mg/kg, administered orally TIW for 6 weeks. Participants who have not completed 6-week treatment at the time of Amendment 2, will continue treatment for up to 19 weeks. Dose adjustment to achieve correction and subsequent maintenance of target Hb values (11.0-13.0 g/dL) will be based upon regular monitoring of Hb. arm 14: Hyporesponsive participants will receive IV epoetin alfa treatments on Day 1, at their prestudy dose and according to their prestudy dosing schedule (TIW). Epoetin alfa dosing will occur on dialysis days in each Cohort B. Dose adjustment will be per local standard of care (exclusive of IV iron) for routine maintenance of stable Hb levels on dialysis participants. arm 15: Hyporesponsive participants will receive placebo matched to roxadustat, administered orally TIW for 19 weeks.

Interventions: intervention 1: Roxadustat intervention 2: Epoetin Alfa intervention 3: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Roxadustat will be administered per dose and schedule specified in the arms. intervention 2: Epoetin Alfa will be administered per dose and schedule specified in the arms. intervention 3: Placebo matching to roxadustat will be administered per schedule specified in the arm.

Protocol document: