Efficacy and Cardiovascular Safety of Roxadustat in Dialysis-Dependent Chronic Kidney Disease: Pooled Analysis of Four Phase 3 Studies

This integrated phase 3 analysis examined efficacy and cardiovascular safety for roxadustat vs erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) in dialysis-dependent patients. Efficacy and safety results from four phase 3, randomized, open-label studies comparing roxadustat to ESAs (PYRENEES, SIERRAS, HIMALAYAS, ROCKIES) in dialysis-dependent patients with anemia of chronic kidney disease (CKD) were evaluated by study, pooled population and in two subgroups: incident dialysis and stable dialysis. The primary efficacy endpoint per study was hemoglobin change from baseline (CFB) to weeks 28–36 using least-squares mean difference (LSMD) without rescue therapy. Pooled safety endpoints included time to major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE; myocardial infarction, stroke, and all-cause mortality [ACM]) and MACE+ (MACE plus congestive heart failure or unstable angina requiring hospitalization), ACM, and treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs). MACE and MACE+ were evaluated for non-inferiority at 1.8 and 1.3 margins using hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). TEAEs were descriptively summarized. In total, 4714 patients were randomized (2354 roxadustat; 2360 ESA). Hemoglobin CFB to weeks 28–36 achieved non-inferiority for roxadustat vs ESA in each study. Roxadustat was non-inferior to ESA for risks for MACE and MACE+ in the entire cohort (MACE: HR 1.09, 95% CI 0.95–1.26; MACE+ : HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.86–1.11) and similar to the incident dialysis and stable dialysis subgroups; ACM results were consistent with MACE and MACE+ (HR 1.13, 95% CI 0.95–1.34). TEAEs were generally comparable between groups. Roxadustat improved hemoglobin similarly to ESA while demonstrating comparable cardiovascular and overall safety profiles in a wide spectrum of dialysis-dependent patients with anemia of CKD. Roxadustat represents an oral alternative to ESAs for achieving a target hemoglobin for anemia of CKD in dialysis-dependent patients.