Five years on, kidneys are doing better: a hormone treatment for a rare gland disorder keeps helping the organs it once strained

Hypoparathyroidism is a rare condition in which the body makes too little parathyroid hormone, the signal that keeps calcium in balance. The standard workaround — large doses of calcium and vitamin D — controls the blood tests but can slowly damage the kidneys. Ascendis Pharma's TransCon PTH (palopegteriparatide) replaces the missing hormone itself, given as a daily injection designed to release steadily through the day. New pooled results from its Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies, presented at Kidney Week 2026, show kidney function improving early and staying improved for up to five years of treatment: filtration rates rose and stayed up, calcium in blood stayed normal while calcium spilling into urine fell, and patients remained free of the conventional therapy that had burdened their kidneys. Five years is a long time in a rare disease — long enough for 'promising' to start meaning 'durable'.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation