Treatment

Treating anaemia

With effective treatment, regular monitoring and good management, anaemia can be successfully corrected.

Patients with renal anaemia can be treated with erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) which are injected under the skin or into a vein. These treatments stimulate the bone marrow to produce new blood cells when the patient’s body is not producing enough of the hormone erythropoietin (EPO) to stimulate that production itself.

Roche provides a treatment containing the active ingredient epoetin beta, which is a genetically engineered version of erythropoietin (EPO). 

We also developed the first in a new class of medicines which are continuous erythropoietin receptor activators. These biosynthetic forms of erythropoietin work in a different way to traditional EPO and can prolong the activation of red blood cell production, enabling treatment to be given less often. 

Among the other treatments for different types of anaemia are supplements for anaemia caused by a deficiency of iron, vitamin B12 or folic acid and emergency blood transfusions for life-threatening anaemia after major blood loss. 

Roche’s pharmaceutical teams work with healthcare professionals to make treatment products widely available. Our aim is to ensure that all eligible patients have access to the most appropriate treatment for their anaemia.