AMAG Pharmaceuticals has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its application to broaden the existing label for Feraheme (ferumoxytol injection) beyond the current chronic kidney disease (CKD) indication to include all eligible adult Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) patients who have intolerance to oral iron or have had unsatisfactory response to oral iron. This sNDA approval immediately doubles the number of patients who could benefit from Feraheme to include both CKD and non-CKD patients.

“Iron deficiency anemia is a serious and under-treated health condition which negatively impacts quality of life for millions of people, many of whom do not benefit from or cannot tolerate oral iron therapy,” said Michael Auerbach, M.D., Clinical Professor at Georgetown University School of Medicine. “Physicians now have a new option for patients who meet the broader ferumoxytol injection indication that can be administered in 15 minutes providing a gram of iron in two doses as few as three days apart.”

The Feraheme label expansion approval was supported by two positive pivotal Phase 3 trials evaluating Feraheme versus iron sucrose or placebo in a broad population of patients with IDA. It was also supported by positive results from a third phase 3 randomized, double-blind, clinical safety trial comparing Feraheme to Injectafer (ferric carboxymaltose injection) in approximately 2,000 adults with IDA. The study demonstrated comparability to Injectafer based on the primary composite endpoint of the incidence of moderate-to-severe hypersensitivity reactions (including anaphylaxis) and moderate-to-severe hypotension.

The study also met important secondary safety and efficacy endpoints, including the demonstration of mean improvement in hemoglobin per gram of iron administered from baseline to week 5 (1.35 g/dL Feraheme versus 1.10 g/dL Injectafer). Adverse event rates were similar across both treatment groups, however, the incidence of severe hypophosphatemia (defined by blood phosphorous of <0.6 mmol/L at week 2) was less in the patients receiving Feraheme (0.4% of patients) compared to those receiving Injectafer (38.7% of patients).

“An expanded Feraheme label that includes all eligible adult IDA patients will double the addressable market opportunity estimated to be nearly a million patients per year for Feraheme and provide for future growth within this broader IDA market segment,” said Nik Grund, chief commercial officer at AMAG. “In addition, roughly 4.5 million Americans suffer from the debilitating effects of IDA. AMAG is proud that Feraheme may now be a treatment option for all eligible IDA patients.”

AMAG is committed to researching and developing therapies to address unmet medical needs and often-overlooked conditions, such as IDA. As part of the company’s efforts to help ensure all patients who can benefit from AMAG’s products are able to access them, AMAG offers a comprehensive patient access support program and patient assistance for qualifying Feraheme patients through AMAG Assist.