News

The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) says it’s “disappointed and dismayed” after the House of Representatives voted 227-205 last week to repeal the Orphan Drug Tax Credit as part of a U.S. tax reform package. A similar package before the Senate Finance Committee does not repeal the credit…

The European Medicines Agency has recommended marketing authorization for Shire’s Adynovi (BAX-855) as a treatment for adults and adolescents with hemophilia A. Approval would mean the therapy could be used twice a week to prevent bleeding episodes and to counter bleeding when episodes do occur. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Hemlibra (emicizumab-kxwh) for routine prophylaxis to prevent or lessen bleeding episodes in children and adults with hemophilia A with factor VIII inhibitors, Genentech announced. Hemlibra is first newly approved treatment for this patient group in almost 20 years, the…

An ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating a gene therapy, SPK-9001, in people with hemophilia B is expanding its enrollment by up to five more patients, who will be given a new version of the therapy, its developer announced. One patient in this group has already received SPK-9001 produced under…

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi) announced the successful enrollment of the first hemophilia A patient in the company’s ReITIrate clinical trial. The Phase 4 study (NCT03103542), sponsored in collaboration with Bioverativ Therapeutics, is actively recruiting participants who have developed inhibitors and who have failed to respond to other therapies. Researchers will…

Chris Bombardier, who aims to become the first person with severe hemophiliac to climb what are known as the world’s Seven Summits, is about to conquer his last, Mount Vinson in Antarctica, with the help of Octapharma USA. The New Jersey-based company has given an unspecified grant to Bombardier…

Interim results from the Phase 3 ASPIRE study indicate that patients with hemophilia A showed continuous improvement in joint health for nearly three years while receiving prophylactic dosing of Bioverativ and Sobi’s Eloctate. The interim results were reported in a study titled, “Improved joint health in subjects with severe haemophilia A…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted Bayer’s Biologics License Application (BLA) filing for BAY94-9027 to treat hemophilia A in adolescents starting at age 12, and in adults. A BLA is a marketing application that covers biological products, as opposed to chemically synthesized ones, and its…

Children’s National Health System no longer treats just kids. Its Rare Disease Institute, launched in April 2017, has partnered with the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) to become the first of many U.S. “centers of excellence” to look after patients with rare diseases, regardless of age. The effort…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to BioMarin Pharmaceutical’s investigative therapy, valoctocogene roxaparvovec to treat patients with hemophilia A. This new status is likely to speed up the development and regulatory review of valoctocogene roxaparvovec, which has already received an Orphan Drug Designation from both…