FMC aims for 110,000 U.S. patients to be on Mircera in first-quarter

[February 24, 2016]  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Kidney dialysis provider Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) expects more than 70 percent of eligible U.S. patients to have switched to cheaper alternative anemia treatment Mircera by the end of March, the German group's chief executive said.

About 155,000 of FMC's 185,000 U.S. dialysis patients require treatment against anemia, or deficiency of red blood cells.

The group aims to have 110,000, or 71 percent, of them on Roche's Mircera by the end of the first quarter, switching from Amgen's more expensive drug Epogen, CEO Rice Powell told a press conference on Wednesday.

U.S. patient numbers on Mircera stood about 95,000 at the end of 2015, up from 77,000 at the end of September, allowing FMC to reduce costs.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Maria Sheahan)

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