King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has become the first hospital in the world to recruit a patient into a major international clinical trial investigating a potential new treatment for a rare form of blood cancer.
The Takeda Pharmaceuticals TAK-226-3001 Phase 3 trial is evaluating the safety and effectiveness of erlitercept, a novel therapy designed to treat anaemia in adults living with lower-risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS). The treatment will be compared against the current standard of care, erythropoietin, which is widely used to manage the condition.
King’s College Hospital is one of only two UK centres participating in the study, which aims to recruit 300 patients globally. Participants may remain in the trial for up to five years, enabling researchers to assess the long-term impact of the treatment.
MDS is a rare pre-leukaemic blood disorder that affects around 4 in every 100,000 people in the UK, predominantly older adults. The condition impairs the body’s ability to produce healthy blood cells, often causing severe anaemia and significantly reducing quality of life. Patients also face an increased risk of developing acute leukaemia.
As a nationally recognised specialist centre for MDS, King’s continues to play a leading role in the development of innovative treatments for patients with complex blood disorders.
Dr Austin Kulasekararaj, Consultant Haematologist at King’s and Chief Investigator of the study, said:
“King’s College Hospital is a National Reference Centre for MDS, and patients are referred to us for cutting-edge clinical trials to improve their outcomes and quality of life.
“The only approved treatment in the UK for ‘lower risk’ MDS is supportive treatment with erythropoietin (natural hormone) injections and if this fails, patients start needing blood transfusions. This trial could provide a fantastic opportunity for our patients to benefit from this therapy.”
The trial is being delivered with support from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Facility at King’s, which helped the Trust recruit the first patient ahead of new national timelines introduced by the Government in April 2026.
The targets were designed to accelerate the set-up of clinical research studies across the UK, helping patients gain faster access to potentially life-changing therapies while strengthening the country’s position as a global leader in medical research.
Research remains a cornerstone of patient care at King’s. The Trust consistently ranks among the UK's leading NHS organisations for research recruitment and manages more than 1,200 active studies each year. These span discovery science, translational research, clinical trials, data-enabled research and population health programmes.
King’s is also home to several internationally recognised research centres, including the Clinical Age Research Unit, HIV Research Centre, Cicely Saunders Institute, and the Harris Birthright Centre, supporting innovation across multiple specialties and improving outcomes for patients both nationally and internationally.
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