News

Jim Christensen Jr., a hemophilia A patient who has supported the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) for more than three decades, has received the Lester A. Rosen Humanitarian and Achievement Award, given annually by Ameritas, for which he is an independent financial representative. With the award, the insurance company…

Chronic pain and a reliance on pain killers remains high among adult men with severe hemophilia B after two years on preventive treatment with extended half-life recombinant factor IX — even with a lesser bleeding frequency and fewer repeated joint bleeds, a real-world study from Ireland reports. These findings…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to GENV-HEM, GeneVentiv Therapeutics’ investigational gene therapy for hemophilia A and B patients, with or without clotting factor inhibitors. Orphan drug designation is given to treatment candidates that have the potential to be safe and effective…

For some patients with moderate or severe hemophilia, switching from standard to extended half-life replacement therapy results in improvements in key outcome measures, a study in Canada found. Most of these self-reported gains in health-related quality of life, and physical, mental, and social functioning three months after the switch,…

Hemophilia patients experienced improvements in joint health, mobility, and overall quality of life after completing a supervised eight-week exercise program, a study reports. However, in order to achieve long-lasting benefits, regular exercise may be required. The study, “Effects of a supervised therapeutic exercise program on musculoskeletal health and…

Preventive treatment with factor VIII (FVIII) — the missing blood clotting protein in hemophilia A — was not fully effective at preventing MRI-detected joint changes in boys with severe disease, according to a Canadian study. Regular evaluation of joints by MRI or ultrasounds, however, may help in identifying those…

Implanting bioscaffolds — 3D biological scaffolds made up of collagen and other molecules — carrying transformed liver cells into rats successfully triggered the production of factor VIII (FVIII), the clotting protein missing in people with hemophilia A. According to researchers, these bioscaffolds may be a therapeutic alternative to FVIII…

The first documented case of a previously untreated hemophilia B patient developing inhibitors against the extended half-life therapy Alprolix was described in a report from Canada. The report also shows how combining routine administration of Alprolix with medications that suppress the immune system can be used to stop…

Global Genes has partnered with the Rare Disease Diversity Coalition (RDDC) to advance health equity for rare disease patients and caregivers in underrepresented communities of color. “For rare disease patients, there are many challenges — and for people of color with a rare disease, these challenges are compounded…

Eptacog beta was safe and 100% effective at preventing bleeds during and after minor surgeries in hemophilia A patients with inhibitors, according to data from a Phase 3 trial. The treatment’s efficacy at managing bleeds dropped with major surgeries, with post-operative success seen in 66.7% of evaluated cases. Overall, these…