Posted by Michael Wonder on 16 Nov 2017
FDA approves new treatment to prevent bleeding in certain patients with haemophilia A
16 November 2017 - The U.S. FDA today approved Hemlibra (emicizumab-kxwh) to prevent or reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes in adult and paediatric patients with haemophilia A who have developed antibodies called Factor VIII (FVIII) inhibitors.
The safety and efficacy of Hemlibra was based on data from two clinical trials. The first was a trial that included 109 males aged 12 and older with hemophilia A with FVIII inhibitors. The randomized portion of the trial compared Hemlibra to no prophylactic treatment in 53 patients who were previously treated with on-demand therapy with a bypassing agent before enrolling in the trial. Patients taking Hemlibra experienced approximately 2.9 treated bleeding episodes per year compared to approximately 23.3 treated bleeding episodes per year for patients who did not receive prophylactic treatment. This represents an 87 percent reduction in the rate of treated bleeds. The trial also included patient-reported Quality of Life metrics on physical health. Patients treated with Hemlibra reported an improvement in hemophilia-related symptoms (painful swellings and joint pain) and physical functioning (pain with movement and difficulty walking) compared to patients who did not receive prophylactic treatment.
The second trial was a single arm trial of 23 males under the age of 12 with hemophilia A with FVIII inhibitors. During the trial, 87 percent of the patients taking Hemlibra did not experience a bleeding episode that required treatment.
