WIXOM, Mich., June 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rockwell Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:RMTI) ("Rockwell Medical" or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming anemia management and improving outcomes for patients around the world, today announced the appointment of industry leader and renowned authority on kidney disease, Allen R. Nissenson, M.D., F.A.C.P., to its Board of Directors, effective June 11, 2020. Dr. Nissenson serves as an Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University California Los Angeles, Emeritus Chief Medical Officer of DaVita Kidney Care, and a member of the Board of Directors of Angion Biomedica Corp.

"We are pleased to welcome Allen to the Board of Directors," said John P. McLaughlin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rockwell Medical. "We expect Allen's clinical, regulatory and public policy expertise, combined with his senior executive experience at a large dialysis organization, will make him a valuable advisor as we seek to expand the reach and impact of Triferic^® (ferric pyrophosphate citrate) in End-Stage Renal Disease."

In addition to his current roles, Dr. Nissenson is the immediate past Chair of Kidney Care Partners, immediate past Co-Chair of the Kidney Care Quality Alliance, and he served as Director of the Dialysis Program and Associate Dean at the David Geffen School of Medicine. He is a former President of the Renal Physicians Association and current member of the Government Affairs Committee. Dr. Nissenson also previously served as President of the Southern California End-Stage Renal Disease Network, as well as Chair of the Medical Review Board. He earned his M.D. from Northwestern University Medical School.

Rockwell Medical is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming anemia management in a wide variety of therapeutic areas and across the globe, improving the lives of very sick patients. The Company's initial focus is the treatment of anemia in end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Rockwell Medical's exclusive renal drug therapies, Triferic (ferric pyrophosphate citrate) Dialysate and Triferic AVNU, are the only FDA-approved therapeutics indicated for iron replacement and maintenance of hemoglobin in hemodialysis patients. Rockwell Medical is also an established manufacturer, supplier and leader in delivering high-quality hemodialysis concentrates/dialysates to dialysis providers and distributors in the U.S. and abroad.

Triferic Dialysate and Triferic AVNU are the only FDA-approved therapies in the U.S. indicated to replace iron and maintain hemoglobin in hemodialysis patients during each dialysis treatment. Triferic Dialysate and Triferic AVNU have a unique and differentiated mechanism of action, which has the potential to benefit patients and health care economics. Triferic Dialysate and Triferic AVNU represent a potential innovative medical advancement in hemodialysis patient iron management – with the potential to become the future standard of care.

Triferic Dialysate and Triferic AVNU both deliver approximately 5-7 mg iron with every hemodialysis treatment to the bone marrow and maintain hemoglobin without increasing iron stores (ferritin). Both formulations donate iron immediately and completely to transferrin (carrier of iron in the body) upon entry into the blood which is then transported directly to the bone marrow to be incorporated into hemoglobin, with no increase in ferritin (stored iron and inflammation) and no reports of anaphylaxis in over 1,000,000 patient administrations, addressing a significant medical need in overcoming Functional Iron Deficiency (FID) in ESRD patients.

Serious hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylactic-type reactions, some of which have been life-threatening and fatal, have been reported in patients receiving parenteral iron products. Patients may present with shock, clinically significant hypotension, loss of consciousness, and/or collapse. Monitor patients for signs and symptoms of hypersensitivity during and after hemodialysis until clinically stable. Personnel and therapies should be immediately available for the treatment of serious hypersensitivity reactions. Hypersensitivity reactions have been reported in 1 (0.3%) of 292 patients receiving Triferic in two randomized clinical trials.