The Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agent Omontys/Peginesatide up-Modulates Erythroid Progenitor Formation, and Cell Surface Erythropoietin Receptor Levels.

Abstract 2089

Peginesatide is a peptide-based erythropoietin receptor (EPOR) agonist with recent FDA approval for treating the anemia of chronic kidney disease among adult dialysis patients. Although peginesatide exhibits a 47.9h half-life when given IV in dialysis patients, it is administered once-monthly. Taken together, this predicts that additional functional properties contribute to peginesatide's durable erythropoiesis stimulating activity. Here we report on three such properties. During ex vivo murine bone marrow erythroid development, compared directly to rHuEPO, peginesatide first enhanced Kit^posCD71^pos progenitor cell expansion (including Kit^posCD71^lowCD36^posCD13^pos erythromyelo- progenitors). Second, peginesatide exhibited a 1300 minute EPOR residence time vs. 77 minutes for rHuEPO. Third, the culture of EPO-dependent human UT7epo cells in peginesatide led to substantial EPOR up-modulation, as well as an apparent lessening of the processing of mature EPOR's. Furthermore, in studies that compared peginesatide vs. rHuEPO effects on the erythroid development of human bone marrow-derived CD34^pos progenitors, the following differences were observed. At days 6–10 of culture, peginesatide gave rise to increased frequencies (up to 200% as compared to rHuEPO) of Kit^posCD71^pos co-positive erythroid progenitors. At early stages (d2-d4), cell-surface EPOR levels also were elevated among progenitors expanded in peginesatide. When levels of CD13^posCD36^pos co-positive cells were analyzed, frequencies of these erythromyelo-progenitors also were heightened up to three-fold. Analyses of cultures at later time-points (eg, d10 of culture) indicated that peginesatide and rHuEPO supported the formation of GPA^high erythroblasts at similarly high frequencies. In addition, cytospin analyses revealed morphological distinctions for multicellular proerythroblast complexes formed in peginesatide. Peginesatide's persistent erythropoietic activity allowing for once-monthly dosing therefore is likely to involve novel effects on erythromyelo-progenitor recruitment, and increased EPOR cell surface expression including apparent increases in relative levels of full-length EPOR forms.