While riding a bus at the first hemophilia conference I attended, I met a young man who had mild hemophilia, just like me. Unlike me, he’d been diagnosed close to birth. Then he shared his factor VIII levels; shockingly, they were higher than mine. I sat in disbelief. I’d…

Acquired hemophilia A (AHA) arose in a 48-year old man with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), an autoimmune liver disease, according to a case study. While AHA has been associated with autoimmune disorders, the researchers said a connection between AHA and PBC had not been reported previously. While “the…

First in a series. Have you ever wondered what it’s really like to receive gene therapy? I know I have. So when I had the chance to interview 75-year-old Chip Hailey of Tennessee — one of the participants in a clinical trial for Hemgenix (etranacogene dezaparvovec), the first…

Jivi (damoctocog alfa pegol) has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that now extends to children with hemophilia A as young as 7 years old. Jivi had previously been authorized for hemophilia A patients 12 and older. The therapy, which is sold by Bayer,…

Recently, I attended the Florida Bleeding Disorders Association’s Women’s Educational Retreat in Hollywood, Florida. I came away with several important takeaways, but one presentation by Lucila Ramirez Donaldson of Genentech truly resonated: caregiver burnout. Many of the women attending were mothers or partners of people living with hemophilia. I’ve…

In 2000, actor Tom Hanks starred in the movie “Cast Away.” His character, Chuck Noland, traveled the world as a systems analyst for FedEx, and his plane crashed in the South Pacific. He was on a deserted island, and his only connections with the world were the FedEx…

A single-center U.S. study found relatively little genetic testing was done for girls with a 50% risk of being a hemophilia carrier — people with the altered gene who don’t have hemophilia themselves but can pass it to their children — over a four-year period in Washington state.

Beqvez (fidanacogene elaparvovec-dzkt), a one-time gene therapy developed by Pfizer that was formerly approved for hemophilia B, was found to be safe and effective in reducing bleeding episodes and the need for factor replacement therapy in a small group of men. That’s according to results from a long-term…

I’ve lived with bleeding disorders all my life. I’ve infused at home, navigated emergency rooms, and advocated for better care for myself and others. But when I was invited to participate in a global hackathon on mental well-being in the hemophilia community, I was struck by something that often…