Amgen reports positive data from kidney disease drug trial

Amgen has announced positive data from a phase III study evaluating its drug AMG 416 in the treatment of conditions relating to chronic kidney disease.

The drug was able to meet all of its primary and secondary endpoints in the new study, which assessed the compound in the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with chronic kidney disease who were receiving haemodialysis.

Amgen's therapy was associated with a significant drop in parathyroid hormone levels when administered three times per week by intravenous injection.

Data from a second placebo-controlled study will be made available later this year, while a head-to-head study evaluating AMG 416 compared to cinacalcet will be published in 2015.

Dr Sean Harper, executive vice president of research and development at Amgen, said: "Secondary hyperparathyroidism can be a challenging disease to manage and control. There is an important role for an effective calcimimetic that can be administered intravenously with haemodialysis to help treat this disease."

This comes after the company reported positive data from a phase II trial of its psoriatic arthritis therapy brodalumab last month.