# Darbepoetin alfa

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/darbepoetin-alfa/  
OnCo record `darbepoetin-alfa` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Darbepoetin alfa (Aranesp) is a longer-acting version of erythropoietin given every one to three weeks to treat anaemia caused by chemotherapy, reducing transfusions but with the same warnings about clots and tumour growth as epoetin.

## Summary

Darbepoetin alfa was approved by the FDA in September 2001 for anaemia of chronic kidney disease and in July 2002 for anaemia due to concomitant myelosuppressive chemotherapy in non-myeloid malignancies with at least two further months of planned chemotherapy; the EU authorised Aranesp in June 2001. Weekly or three-weekly dosing suited chemotherapy schedules and it displaced much epoetin use in oncology before the survival and thrombosis findings of the 2000s (including the darbepoetin trial in anaemic cancer patients not on chemotherapy, which showed excess mortality) restricted all erythropoiesis-stimulating agents to the lowest dose needed to avoid transfusion in the palliative setting. The label states it has not been shown to improve quality of life or fatigue. Hypertension, thromboembolism and rare pure red cell aplasia are the main risks.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: approved
- Last checked: 2026-09-10
- Tags: nci-list; supportive
- Brand: Aranesp
- Modality: Hyperglycosylated recombinant erythropoietin (erythropoiesis-stimulating agent)
- Mechanism: Erythropoietin analogue with two additional N-linked carbohydrate chains that triple its half-life; stimulates the erythropoietin receptor to increase red cell production.
- Approvals: US 2001: Anaemia of chronic kidney disease; US 2002: Anaemia due to concomitant myelosuppressive chemotherapy in non-myeloid malignancies; EU 2001: Anaemia of chronic renal failure; symptomatic anaemia in adults with non-myeloid malignancies receiving chemotherapy (Aranesp)

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darbepoetin_alfa
- US label (DailyMed): https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/search.cfm?labeltype=all&query=darbepoetin%20alfa
- NCI drug page: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/drugs/darbepoetinalfa
- EPAR: https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/aranesp

## Connected records

- drugs: [Epoetin alfa](https://onco.cc/drugs/epoetin-alfa/), [Epoetin theta](https://onco.cc/drugs/epoetin-theta/)
- technologies: [Transfusion support and anaemia management](https://onco.cc/technologies/transfusion-support/)
- companies: [Amgen](https://onco.cc/companies/amgen/)
- trials: [ACCELERATE: Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide Followed by Paclitaxel With Pegfilgrastim and Darbepoetin Alfa Support for the Treatment of Women With Breast Cancer](https://onco.cc/trials/nct00261313/), [Docetaxel and Cisplatin With or Without Dimesna in Treating Patients With Stage IIIB or Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer](https://onco.cc/trials/nct00077311/), [Erythropoietin for Management of Anemia Caused by Chemotherapy](https://onco.cc/trials/nct02890602/)
- targets: [Erythropoietin receptor (EPOR)](https://onco.cc/targets/epor/)
- cancers: [Lower-risk myelodysplastic syndromes](https://onco.cc/cancers/mds-lower-risk/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/darbepoetin-alfa.json