High-dose erythropoietin failed to lower the risk for death among newborns undergoing therapeutic hypothermia for neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, according to study findings published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The phase 3 High-Dose Erythropoietin for Asphyxia and Encephalopathy (HEAL) trial also demonstrated that erythropoietin was linked to a higher rate of serious adverse events compared with placebo.
The results contradicted findings from smaller preclinical studies that supported the use of erythropoietin, but they supported other studies that found it was not