RenaGel phosphate binder data

GELX announced positive results of a second Phase III trial of RenaGel to control elevated serum phosphorus levels in chronic kidney failure patients. The study, which included 82 dialysis patients with chronic kidney failure, began with a two-week washout period followed by eight weeks of patients taking either RenaGel or PhosLo calcium acetate, the currently used phosphate binder standard ( Braintree Laboratories Inc., Braintree, Mass.). The eight weeks were followed by another two-week washout period and a crossover in which patients who took RenaGel for the first eight weeks took PhosLo for the second eight-week period, and vice versa, to serve as their own controls.

While RenaGel and PhosLo were comparable in decreasing serum phosphorus and parathyroid hormone levels, RenaGel did so without increasing serum calcium. The PhosLo group experienced hypercalcemia in 48 percent of the patients, while 16 percent of RenaGel patients had hypercalcemic incidents. ...