In USA, ray of hope for new kind of kidney disease product

A fairly positive outcome from a meeting of the US regulator’s scientific panel raises the prospect that pharma major GSK (LSE: GSK) may be able to succeed where its British counterpart AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) has failed.

The firm is developing daprodustat, a novel kind of oral therapy, as an option for the treatment of anemia associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Mindful of the safety risks associated with these drugs, known as hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors (HIF-PHI), the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) scientists have previously voted against approving options from  AstraZeneca and Akebia Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKBA).