On January 26, 2015, the FDA approved Rockwell Medical’s innovative iron delivery drug ferric pyrophosphate citrate (Triferic). The drug is indicated to replace iron and maintain hemoglobin in adult hemodialysis patients. It is the only iron preparation delivered via dialysate. It has a safety profile similar to placebo. None of the more than 100,000 individual administrations of the drug resulted in anaphylaxis. Ferric pyrophosphate citrate has been shown to deliver sufficient iron to the bone marrow and maintain hemoglobin levels without increasing iron stores and while significantly decreasing the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents by 35%. The medication is expected to be commercially available this year.
