The science doesn't stop On the journey of scientific inquiry, sometimes a single path, if followed far enough, may lead to many milestones. Take, for example, Aranesp®, used to help combat anemia related to chemotherapy or chronic kidney disease.

Following the launch of EPOGEN®, Amgen scientists continued to study anemia. These studies led to the discovery, development, and 2001 launch of Aranesp®, an anemia treatment with a longer half-life, allowing it to circulate in the body longer.

In 2004, European health authorities approved an extended dosing schedule for Aranesp®. In Europe, the approved dosage schedule for anemic cancer patients receiving chemotherapy is only once every three weeks, and for patients with chronic kidney disease, only once per month. Previously, the approved dosing schedule was once weekly for cancer patients and once weekly or once every two weeks for chronic kidney disease patients.

All this is great news for patients. For people with chronic kidney disease, though, another significant foe is cardiovascular events—the most common cause of death in that patient population. That's why Amgen has initiated TREAT (Trial to Reduce cardiovascular Events with Aranesp® Therapy), an international, multi-year trial to evaluate whether treating anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes may lower their risk of death or cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or heart failure. Anemia appears to be an independent and powerful risk factor for cardiovascular events in such patients, but it will be several years before the TREAT data may reveal where the path will lead next.