A novel hepcidin antagonist as therapy against anaemia

Anaemia associated with chronic kidney disease is a serious complication affecting millions of European patients. Using a hepcidin specific Anticalin protein, an EU-funded study aimed to develop a novel therapy for this type of anaemia.

Hepcidin is the key regulator of iron uptake and storage and, thus, availability for biological processes. Functional iron-deficient anaemia is characterised by elevated hepcidin blood levels causing iron accumulation in storage cells leading to limited iron availability for red blood cell production, or erythropoiesis. Hepcidin inhibition is predicted to increase iron availability and erythropoiesis, to normalise haemoglobin levels and to reverse anaemia. This EU-funded project EUROCALIN (European consortium for Anticalins as next generation high-affinity protein therapeutics) involved ten EU partners who developed and tested the hepcidin binding Anticalin PRS-080 as a drug candidate for the treatment of functional iron-deficient anaemia.

Further details: A novel hepcidin antagonist as therapy against anaemia