Takeda Donating Hemophilia Treatments for 5 Years to WFH Aid Program

The World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) announced that Takeda has joined its WFH Humanitarian Aid Program, agreeing to large, annual donations of treatments for people with inherited bleeding disorders like hemophilia in developing countries.

Takeda, with this commitment, builds on 30 years of supporting WFH programs, becoming a “contributor” level sponsor in  humanitarian aid.

Specifically, the company agreed to provide the group with 15 million international units (IU) of factor VIII (FVIII), and 5 million IUs of bypassing agents every year for the next five years. 

“This five-year product donation aims to help the WFH in improving access to treatment, including prophylaxis to protect joint health,” Julie Kim, president of the Plasma Derived Therapies Business Unit at Takeda, said in a press release.

People with hemophilia A, the disease’s most common subtype, lack the FVIII clotting protein, and are typical treated either with replacement therapies that supply the factor, or bypassing agents that “bypass” its need. Both replacement therapies and bypassing agents may be given on-demand to treat bleeds, or prophylactically to prevent them.

“At Takeda we recognize the need to advance the standard of care for those living with a rare bleeding disorder, as well as the importance of tackling disparities in access to treatment worldwide,” Kim added.

The WFH Humanitarian Aid Program was established in 1996 to improve access to care in developing countries for people with hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. The group partners with patient organizations in a given country to ensure reliable and consistent access to treatment.

Aid given through the program supports treatment in emergency situations, for acute bleeds, surgeries, and as prophylaxis. To date, WFH reports that this program has distributed over 800 million IUs of products to more than 100 countries.

Since the 1990s, Takeda support for WFH efforts include its World Bleeding Disorder Registry (WBDR), an online platform open to hemophilia treatment centers worldwide to collect standardized patient data, and the Global Alliance for Progress (GAP) Program, aiming for better diagnosis and treatment of people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders.

“Takeda has collaborated with the WFH for over 30 years, playing an important role in several of our programs,” said Alain Baumann, CEO of the WFH.

“We are thankful that Takeda has now extended their support to the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program. This will allow the WFH to do even more to support bleeding disorders communities in need around the world,” Baumann added.