Etelcalcetide (formerly velcalcetide, trade name Parsabiv) is a calcimimetic drug for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients undergoing hemodialysis. It is administered intravenously at the end of each dialysis session. Etelcalcetide functions by binding to and activating the calcium-sensing receptor in the parathyroid gland. Parsabiv is currently owned by Amgen and Ono Pharmaceuticals in Japan. Medical uses
Etelcalcetide is used for the treatment of secondary hyperparathyroidism in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on hemodialysis. Hyperparathyroidism is the condition of elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels and is often observed in people with CKD. Pharmacodynamics
Mechanism of action
Etelcalcetide functions by binding to and activating the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) in the parathyroid gland as an allosteric activator, resulting in PTH reduction and suppression. Pharmacokinetics
Etelcalcetide functions in a first order elimination, with a half life of 19 hours.No interaction studies in humans were conducted. Studies in vitro showed no affinity of etelcalcetide to cytochrome P450 enzymes or common transport proteins. Therefore, no relevant pharmacokinetic interactions are expected. Side effects
Common side effects (in more than 10% of people) are nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, muscle spasms, and hypocalcaemia (too low blood calcium levels). In clinical studies, the latter side effect was usually mild to moderate and without symptoms.
References
Further reading
HSRIC Fact sheet 2014 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine