Renagel lowers mortality rate in trial

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Genzyme Corp. said Monday that kidney disease patients taking Renagel had a significantly lower rate of death compared with patients using calcium-based phosphate binders.

The results, published in the online version of Kidney International, were taken from the Genzyme-funded Renagel in New Dialysis study (RIND), which was as randomized open-label trial with 127 patients new to hemodialysis.

Patients were randomized to take either Renagel or a calcium-based phosphate binder, and were followed for an average of 44 months. Over the course of the study, 34 deaths occurred--23 from patients using the calcium-based phosphate binder and 11 who were using Renagel. Genzyme said the difference between the two groups was statistically significant.

"These results are significant because they show for the first time that higher levels of coronary artery calcification are associated with a higher incidence of death in patients on dialysis," said principal investigator Geoffrey Block, MD, of Denver Nephrologists.

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