Nephrologists: "Success in 85% of cases for treatment against itching in chronic kidney disease"

'An underestimated symptom but with a strong impact on the quality of life of patients and their families'

"The drug that we are also waiting for in Italy for patients with itching associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) would be able to reduce a symptom that is as annoying as it is disabling in 85% of cases. For us nephrologists, this milestone is already a success, because we are talking about elderly people who live all day with a terrible disorder. As president of the Italian Society of Nephrology, I hope that it can be prescribed directly by all dialysis centers, without any distinction. The hope is that there will be greater attention to these patients who have a disastrous quality of life: 3-4 times a week they are tied to a dialysis machine, they present symptoms such as hypotension, asthenia and tiredness, and because of the itching they do not sleep at night. So this therapeutic innovation is welcome. What I repeat, I hope is that it is easily accessible to our patients". This is what the president of the Italian Society of Nephrology (SIN), Luca De Nicola, said about the new therapeutic option - a synthetic selective kappa-opioid receptor agonist - for pruritus caused by chronic kidney disease.

This is difelikefalin and it is the first therapy in Italy against this condition, destined to become the new standard of care. After the approval by the European Medicines Agency (Ema), Csl Vifor Italia and Vifor Fresenius Medical Care Renal Pharma announce that the negotiation phase with the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa) for the reimbursement of difelikefalin has ended and the publication of the decree in the Official Journal is awaited.

"It is an underestimated symptom, but it devastates the patient's life in many ways because it does not go away, but accompanies the patient for the entire duration of the disease and above all prevents night rest - underlines Filippo Aucella, director of the Complex Structure of Nephrology and Dialysis of the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo, Foggia - When we lose sleep, not 1 or 2 days, but for entire months, it means that the patient becomes depressed and is no longer able to have a satisfactory quality of life. So the possibility of being able to act with a drug that breaks this vicious circle can actually in many cases be capable of restoring life expectancy and an adequate quality of life to subjects already so tried by a disabling chronicity that also has a strong impact on the relationship with others, friends and family. If we have a weapon that potentially manages to break this vicious circle, we will probably be able to satisfy an unsatisfied need of these patients, that is, the possibility of sleeping without being interrupted during rest every hour by the need to get up, scratch. Not only that. These people, because of the obvious scratching lesions, do not go out in the summer so as not to show their arms full of scratches that they cause themselves. Therefore, guaranteeing these patients the possibility of having a social life of relationships is a great achievement", highlights the specialist.