I cut my thumb above my knuckle a few weeks ago. It didn’t seem like a big deal, but five Band-Aids later, I began to wonder. A few hours later, I noticed my knuckle was swollen, painful, and a bit blue. My thumb wouldn’t bend, and the swelling extended down…

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) has awarded a three-year tender — an exclusive bulk purchase agreement aiming to minimize medication cost — to Takeda Canada for the purchase of Adynovate, an injectable replacement therapy for the prevention and treatment of bleeding episodes in people with hemophilia A. This…

In an unexpected turn, Catalyst Biosciences is discontinuing the clinical development of marzeptacog alfa activated (MarzAA), its experimental under-the-skin therapy for hemophilia A and B patients with inhibitors, which was being evaluated in an international Phase 3 clinical trial. “Based on several factors including a recently updated feasibility assessment,…

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,…

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…

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…

Long-term prophylactic (preventive) treatment with a fixed dose of Esperoct (turoctocog alfa pegol) — approved in the U.S. and the EU in 2019 — was effective in preventing and stopping bleeding in people with severe hemophilia A, according to data from two Phase 3 clinical trials. Findings from…

A newly designed platform based on the principle of “reverse vaccination” could be used to prevent the development of an immune response that blocks the effectiveness of treatments for hemophilia and other disorders. “For nearly a third of patients with hemophilia A … their own immune system is…

Using a baby’s own umbilical cells as vehicles to deliver factor VIII (FVIII) — the missing or defective clotting protein in hemophilia A — may be an effective, long-lasting, and more affordable therapeutic approach for this blood disorder, an early study suggests. The findings “lay the groundwork for future…