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Shire's Dynepo shows good results

BASINGSTOKE, England, June 16 (UPI) -- Shire said Friday Dynepo, the first erythropoietin produced in a human cell line, improves patients with chronic kidney disease and anemia.

In the study, Dynepo corrected and maintained hemoglobin levels in patients with anemia and chronic kidney disease who were on dialysis.

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Shire said additional research, which was presented at the Congress of the European Hematology Association, indicates erythropoietin produced in human cells may offer treatment advantages over erythropoietins generated in animal cell lines.

In a second study, Dynepo was found to have an unquantifiably low amount of a specific carbohydrate residue that causes immune responses in humans compared to erythropoietins produced in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells.

"There is a pressing need for further research into the differences between Dynepo and conventional erythropoietin treatments that are not produced in human cell lines," Iain MacDougall, a consultant nephrologist at the Renal Unit in King's College Hospital in London, said in a statement issued by Shire.

"It will be fascinating to see whether these differences will ultimately translate into specific benefits for patients with CKD who are suffering from anemia," he said.

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