News

A hemophilia patient has died in a Phase 3 trial evaluating Roche’s  experimental treatment emicizumab (ACE910), raising further concern about its safety. Preliminary indications are that the patient died of a rectal hemorrhage and not emicizumab therapy, however, the company said. The death follows reports of serious blood-clotting events in four…

Psychological distress triggers microscopic changes in regions of hemophiliac children’s brains that deal with emotions and cognition — and the changes show up before abnormal results on neuropsychiatric tests, researchers discovered. The team said larger studies are needed to confirm the links they found between brain changes, the stage of the…

Scientists managed to treat hemophilia B using a new method of protein replacement therapy in a mouse model of the condition.

An analysis was highly critical of the Orphan Drug Act, used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since 1983 to stimulate research into rare diseases. The study found that the act is not “sufficiently” effective in meeting the needs of patients with less common diseases, like hemophilia, while pharmaceutical companies are finding it profitable, with…

Researchers have developed a protein drug that may teach the body to tolerate, rather than reject, the clotting factor treatment given to hemophilia patients. The new drug, tested in dogs, may lead to novel human therapies. The study, “Oral Tolerance Induction in Hemophilia B Dogs Fed with Transplastomic Lettuce,” appeared in the…

Therapy to prevent bleeding (called prophylaxis) in patients with severe hemophilia A led to decreased joint bleeding when it was started at any age. However, improved joint motion was only effective if prophylaxis was started before age 4 in non-obese patients, according to researchers. The study, “Prophylaxis Usage, Bleeding…

Men with hemophilia who have a Medicaid health plan spend less on healthcare than those with employer-sponsored health insurance, due to lower reimbursement. However, Medicaid spends more on extensive healthcare users than employer-sponsored plans, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study,…

A new, modified version of recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII), called rVIII-SingleChain, showed great efficacy and safety in treating bleeding events in children with severe hemophilia A. The study, “Safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of rVIII-SingleChain in children with severe hemophilia A: results of a multicenter clinical trial,” was published in…

Being unemployed or under-educated can have a negative effect on hemophilia patients’ quality of life, including their pain levels and ability to function, according to the results of a questionnaire that were presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. In the patients surveyed, increased pain, functional impairment and reduced…

BioMarin Pharmaceuticals is moving forward with BMN 270, an experimental gene therapy for the treatment of hemophilia A, and is preparing new clinical trials expected to begin this year. The European Medicines Agency (EMA)’s Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT) and its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) agreed that BMN 270…