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Protein / target

Erythropoietin receptor

Encoded byEPORP19235Homo sapiensSwiss-Prot
Clinically validated
Therapeutic maturity
10
Approved medicines
Open Targets target-level
View by indication →
30
Clinical trials
Antibody-tractable
Druggability
UniProt loc high conf

Protein at a glance

Biological role

Erythropoietin receptor

Strongest disease association

Anemia

Via encoding gene EPOR · Clinical evidence · score 0.62

Therapeutic position

Established drug target

Derived from structured UniProt, Open Targets and literature data on this page.

Protein profile

UniProt 2026_02

Canonical identity and biological annotation from UniProt.

Function overview

Receptor for erythropoietin, which mediates erythropoietin-induced erythroblast proliferation and differentiation.

View complete UniProt function annotation

Receptor for erythropoietin, which mediates erythropoietin-induced erythroblast proliferation and differentiation (PubMed:10388848, PubMed:2163695, PubMed:2163696, PubMed:8662939, PubMed:9774108). Upon EPO stimulation, EPOR dimerizes triggering the JAK2/STAT5 signaling cascade (By similarity). In some cell types, can also activate STAT1 and STAT3 (PubMed:11756159). May also activate the LYN tyrosine kinase (By similarity)

Subcellular location

Cell membraneSecreted
Domains and Gene Ontology detail (8)

Domains & features

Fibronectin type-III

Gene Ontology

  • Cexternal side of plasma membrane
  • Cextracellular region
  • Cplasma membrane
  • Ferythropoietin receptor activity
  • Fidentical protein binding
  • Perythropoietin-mediated signaling pathway
  • Psignal transduction

508 aa · 55 kDa · 3 isoforms

Approved medicines with mapped indications

2 medicines · 4 areas

Approved therapies targeting this protein, grouped by what they are approved to treat — the disease-first view of the medicines below. Relationships come from the canonical approved-indication graph (ChEMBL phase-4), the same source as the drug cards.

Broader indication categories (1)
Neoplasms1 medicine

Broad umbrella indications (e.g. “Neoplasms”). Shown here because every medicine also appears under a more specific disease above — kept for completeness, de-emphasised for clarity.

10 medicines meet Open Targets' target-level approved-medicine definition; the 2 shown here are those on this page with a canonical approved disease indication in the graph. Approved indications from ChEMBL (phase-4), via the canonical drug→disease graph.

Drugs targeting this protein

2

How approved and investigational drugs engage this protein — mechanism and action type, direct vs complex targeting, and how broadly each acts across other targets. A drug-first view (the section above groups the approved ones disease-first); direct binders with few recorded targets are listed first.

methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta
Narrow target profileApprovedAgonist

Erythropoietin receptor agonist

Indicated for Anemia, Kidney Failure, Chronic, Renal Insufficiency, Chronic

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

darbepoetin alfa
Narrow target profileApprovedAgonist

Erythropoietin receptor agonist

Indicated for Anemia, Kidney Failure, Chronic, Renal Insufficiency, Chronic, Neoplasms

Direct interaction with this protein · Only this protein recorded as a target

ChEMBL mechanism, action type, target identity and approved indications. Open Targets clinical status.

Translational evidence

Open Targets 26

Why this target matters therapeutically, strongest evidence first. Disease associations are gene-level (via the gene that encodes this protein) and open into the full confidence synthesis; the development universe, tractability and safety annotations are target-level, from Open Targets.

Strongest disease associations · via encoding gene EPOR

Gene-level evidence surfaced through the gene EPORthat encodes this protein — not a direct protein–disease relationship. Ranked by Forefront's causal-directness weighting, so genetically- and clinically-evidenced diseases lead over ones that merely share the literature.

Anemia
0.77Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.62

Kidney Failure, Chronic
0.76Well supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.61

Neoplasms
0.73Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.59

Myelodysplastic syndrome
0.71Moderately supported

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.57

Heart Failure
0.48Limited support

Clinical evidence dominant · Open Targets 0.38

View evidence synthesis (5)
AnemiaWell supported
0.77
agreement 0.620.93
Clinical88%Literature13%

Open Targets aggregate 0.62 · 2 independent evidence families

Kidney Failure, ChronicWell supported
0.76
agreement 0.620.89
Clinical90%Literature9%RNA expression1%

Open Targets aggregate 0.61 · 3 independent evidence families

NeoplasmsModerately supported
0.73
agreement 0.570.88
Clinical86%Literature14%

Open Targets aggregate 0.59 · 2 independent evidence families

Myelodysplastic syndromeModerately supported
0.71
agreement 0.580.85
Clinical87%Literature13%RNA expression0%

Open Targets aggregate 0.57 · 3 independent evidence families

Heart FailureLimited support
0.48
agreement 0.320.63
Clinical98%Literature2%

Open Targets aggregate 0.38 · 2 independent evidence families

The evidence agreement range shows how closely the independent evidence families agree — it is not a statistical confidence interval, and nothing here is fitted to outcome data. Derived from Open Targets evidence types under Forefront weighting; the per-type scores above show the calculation.

Show all associations
Anemia0.62
Kidney Failure, Chronic0.61
Neoplasms0.59
Myelodysplastic syndrome0.57
Heart Failure0.38

Drug development

11 compounds recorded · 10 approved · 1 in clinical development

Open Targets' development universe — every compound recorded against the target at any stage, not all approved medicines. Distinct from the 2 drugs that target this protein in Forefront's canonical graph (2 with a mapped approved indication, shown above): these count different sets and are not a subset relation.

View all recorded compounds (10)
EPOETIN BETAApproval
EPOETIN DELTAApproval
EPOETIN ALFAApproval
PEGINESATIDE ACETATEApproval
CIBINETIDEPhase 2
METHOXY POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL-EPOETIN BETAApproval
DARBEPOETIN ALFAApproval
EPOETIN THETAApproval
EPOETIN ZETAApproval
PEGINESATIDEApproval

Open Targets known-drugs universe. Drug name and highest clinical stage only — the disease relationship is NOT read from this slice (it carries trial-context noise); approved indications come from the canonical graph above.

Tractability

AntibodiesEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot loc high conf and go cc high conf) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Protein degradersEmerging

Feasibility evidence (uniprot ubiquitination and small molecule binder) — no clinical-stage drug of this modality recorded.

Other modalitiesStrong

Approved Drug support this modality.

View underlying tractability evidence (8)
AB · UniProt loc high confAB · GO CC high confAB · UniProt loc med confAB · UniProt SigP or TMHMMAB · Human Protein Atlas locPR · UniProt UbiquitinationPR · Small Molecule BinderOC · Approved Drug

Raw Open Targets tractability assessment buckets, by modality.

Clinical trials

30

Trials of drugs that target this protein — reached indirectly through those drugs, so a trial listed here studies the drug, not the protein. Ranked by active status, then clinical phase and recency, and spread across the targeting drugs.

View all trials (26)

ClinicalTrials.gov via the drug-target graph.

What's happening now

5

Recent therapeutic activity around this target — regulatory actions, clinical trials and safety signals for 2 drugs that target this protein, plus publications where such a drug is a genuine subject. Every item is reached indirectly through the drug, not the protein itself; incidental mentions (a paper that merely measures a drug) and press items are excluded.

  1. New publication2021-08-01
    Efficacy and safety of vadadustat compared with darbepoetin alfa in Japanese anemic patients on hemodialysis: a Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind study.

    Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation : official publication of the European Dialysis and Transplant Association - European Renal Association · 2021 · 50 citations · Europe PMC · via darbepoetin alfa

  2. New publication2013-01-01
    Peginesatide for anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease not receiving dialysis.

    The New England journal of medicine · 2013 · 78 citations · Europe PMC · via darbepoetin alfa

  3. New publication2010-09-01
    Darbepoetin alfa 300 or 500 μg once every 3 weeks with or without intravenous iron in patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia.

    American journal of hematology · 2010 · 64 citations · Europe PMC · via darbepoetin alfa

  4. Regulatory approval2007-07-20

    Approval: Mircera (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta

  5. Regulatory approval2001-06-08

    Approval: Aranesp (EMA)

    ema · regulatory · ema · via darbepoetin alfa

Objective event titles are shown unmodified; the event kind and significance line are derived from structured fields. Forefront AttentionEvent stream aggregating Europe PMC Regulatory filings ClinicalTrials.gov.