Platelet Therapeutics: Thrombopoietin Agonists and Emerging Therapeutics.

Treatment of acute immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) has remained unchanged for a number of decades. Thereafter, 60% of adults will have chronic disease. In some, response to second-line treatments is inadequate and they have refractory ITP. This requires pulsed therapy with steroids or intravenous immunoglobulin for relapses/bleeding symptoms. The introduction of thrombopoietin (TPO) receptor agonists has been a turning point in the treatment of chronic ITP. The current licensed therapies, 1 subcutaneous and 2 oral, can be used interchangeably depending on response, given their different target on the TPO receptor.