Comparison of two epoetin brands in anemic hemodialysis patients: results of two efficacy trials and a single-dose pharmacokinetic study.

Epoetin alpha is recombinant human erythropoietin with established efficacy and safety in the treatment of renal anemia. Epoetin omega is recombinant erythropoietin that differs from epoetin alpha in the sugar moiety. We compared the two epoetins in two 12-week efficacy studies (S1, S2) with twice-weekly dosing, and a single-dose crossover pharmacokinetic (PK) study in severely anemic hemodialysis patients.