erythropoietin   Click here for help

GtoPdb Ligand ID: 4921

Synonyms: Epogen® | Procrit®
Approved drug
erythropoietin is an approved drug (FDA (no history prior to 1989 available))
Compound class: Endogenous peptide in human, mouse or rat
Comment: Recombinant forms of human erythropoietin (epoetins), are contained in various approved drugs with INNs that reflect the different glycoform structures formed by different manufacturing processes. The table below provides details of the epoetin alpha originator drug and biosimilars that are currently approved for use by the US FDA and/or the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Epoetin alpha and biosimilar drugs.

INNTrade names (authorisation holder)First FDA approvalFirst EMA approval
epoetin alfaBinocrit (Sandoz), Abseamed (Medice Arzneimittel Pütter), Epogen (Amgen), Procrit (Janssen)19892007
epoetin betaNeoRecormon, Recormon (both Roche)n/a1997
epoetin zeta (a.k.a. epoetin alfa-epbx)Silapo (Stada Arzneimitte), Retacrit (Hospira)20182007
epoetin thetaBiopoin (Teva), Eporatio (Ratiopharm)n/a2009
Species: Human
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Ligand Activity Visualisation Charts

These are box plot that provide a unique visualisation, summarising all the activity data for a ligand taken from ChEMBL and GtoPdb across multiple targets and species. Click on a plot to see the median, interquartile range, low and high data points. A value of zero indicates that no data are available. A separate chart is created for each target, and where possible the algorithm tries to merge ChEMBL and GtoPdb targets by matching them on name and UniProt accession, for each available species. However, please note that inconsistency in naming of targets may lead to data for the same target being reported across multiple charts.

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View more information in the IUPHAR Pharmacology Education Project: erythropoietin

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Summary of Clinical Use Click here for help
Epoetin alfa is used to treat anemia caused by chemotherapy, chronic kidney disease, or as a result of taking zidovudine to treat HIV. It may also be used before and after surgical procedures where blood loss would indicate the need for red blood cell transfusion.
Mechanism Of Action and Pharmacodynamic Effects Click here for help
Binding of erythropoietin to the erythropoietin receptor activates the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, which in turn results in the activation of transcription factors that control red blood cell formation.