CSL Behring Donating 500M Units of Factor Therapy to WFH Aid Program
CSL Behring will donate 500 million international units (IUs) of coagulation factor therapy to the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) in an effort to promote reliable access to treatment for bleeding disorders, including hemophilia, across more than 60 developing countries.
The donation marks the fifth multiyear commitment by the company to support WFH’s Humanitarian Aid Program. Over the next three years, CSL will contribute an additional 50 million IUs.
“As part of our promise to support those living with rare and serious diseases, CSL Behring has been providing life-saving, innovative solutions to people living with hematologic [blood] diseases for decades,” Paul Perreault, CSL’s CEO and managing director, said in a press release.
“As a long-standing partner of WFH and a visionary contributor to the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program, we recognize that lack of access to treatment remains a major challenge and we are excited to see how this donation will address the significant unmet need that still exists in many developing countries,” Perreault added.
Hemophilia is caused by a lack of a specific blood clotting factor, and is typically treated with replacement therapy to supply the missing factor and facilitate blood clotting.
CSL’s therapy will be manufactured specifically for the purpose of donation at its plant in Switzerland. The shelf life of the produced therapy will be three years — longer than usual for a coagulation therapy — to support its distribution to communities in need around the world.
An initial donation is set for January 2023, with subsequent donations delivered twice a year for five years.
The partnership between the two organizations will also support progress toward improved diagnosis and treatment of bleeding disorders through the WFH’s Global Alliance For Progress. Here, CSL will give financial support to training programs and logistic costs associated with efforts to meet the needs of people with hemophilia in developing nations.
“Over the years, CSL Behring has been a faithful partner of the WFH. This very significant donation will allow even more people with hemophilia to benefit from treatment,” said Alain Baumann, CEO of the WFH. “Such donations will serve as a catalyst for improving access to care and treatment and take a step closer to our vision at the WFH, Treatment for All. We are grateful to CSL Behring for stepping up in their support of the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program.”
WFH announced in October that its Humanitarian Aid Program, between 1996 and 2021, had successfully distributed more than one billion IUs of replacement therapies to people worldwide with bleeding disorders.
The group’s efforts are also supported by pharmaceutical companies that include Sanofi Genzyme, Sobi, Bayer, Roche, Grifols, and Takeda.
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