The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is extending its review of BioMarin Pharmaceutical’s request to approve the gene therapy Roctavian (valoctocogene roxaparvovec) for adults with severe hemophilia A. A decision had been expected by the end of this month, but that date has now been…

Starting or switching to prophylactic, or preventive Hemlibra (emicizumab) may lead to a significant reduction in treatment-associated expenses for hemophilia A patients in the U.S., a real-world study reported. These findings highlight the cost-benefits of using Hemlibra — and may help future cost analysis studies in assessing new…

Recent evidence suggests that hemophilia B is clinically less severe than hemophilia A, highlighting the need to discuss further therapeutic options for each type of hemophilia. The study, “Haemophilia B is clinically less severe than haemophilia A: further evidence,” was published in Blood Transfusion. Hemophilia is an inherited, genetic disorder…

Treatment with platelets stripped of their natural sugar molecule coating helped to prevent inhibitors, or neutralizing antibodies, from forming against clotting factor VIII (FVIII) replacement therapy in a mouse model of hemophilia A, a study reported. Platelets promote blood clotting, and they are generally thought to boost inflammation…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted breakthrough therapy designation to Genentech’s Hemlibra (emicizumab-kxwh) for people with hemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors. Hemlibra is designed to bring together the proteins required to activate the natural coagulation cascade and restore the blood clotting process for patients with…

Preventive treatment with Kovaltry (octocog alfa) is safe and effective at preventing bleeds, including joint bleeds, for up to two years in people with hemophilia A, a long-term extension study shows. Findings were reported in the study “BAY 81-8973 demonstrated efficacy, safety and joint status improvement…

Individually tailored prophylaxis, or preventive treatment, with Jivi (damoctocog alfa pegol) nearly halved the number of annual bleeding episodes in people with severe hemophilia A who had previously been on another replacement therapy, according to a Phase 4 post-marketing study. Researchers also observed that none of the patients…

Researchers have developed a faster, less expensive, reliable method for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD) of hemophilia A. Future, larger studies are required to confirm the utility of the method, which could be used for the NIPD of hemophilia A and type B, as well as other X-linked…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is supporting a university’s research into the risk factors and underlying mechanisms involved in the development of neutralizing antibodies, or inhibitors, against replacement therapies in people with hemophilia A. The $6.6 million, three-year grant from the NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute…

A modified version of the coagulation protein factor X was able to significantly reduce bleeding in a mouse model of hemophilia A, and may offer a way of treating people with this disease due to factor VIII deficiency, a study suggests. Lab work also showed a potential for treating people…