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November 30th, 2006

Octapharma Symposium Report: Can VWF-containing FVIII optimise inhibitor prevention and eradication?


Octapharma was a silver sponsor at the recent European Haemophilia Consortium held in Sofia, Bulgaria 22-24 September 2006.

The European Haemophilia Consortium exists to improve the quality of life for people with haemophilia in Europe. They work to improve diagnostic and treatment facilities, ensure adequate supply of safe factor concentrates, promote patients’ rights, raise ethical issues, follow and influence developments in European Health Policy, as well as perform surveys of the status of haemophilia care in member countries and stimulate research in all fields related to haemophilia. The EHC 2006 meeting gathered 245 participants from 42 EHC and WFH countries in order to present progress on the treatment and research in the field of haemophilia. 

Octapharma, in addition to being silver sponsor of the event and participating in the exhibition, provided a symposium during the meeting entitled Can VWF-containing FVIII optimise inhibitor prevention and eradication?  An update from recent international studies.  The symposium included an update on the interim results with Octanate in an ongoing international Observational Study on Immune Tolerance Induction (OBSITI) by Mrs. Annica Arnberg. In addition to a review of recent scientific data supporting the use of human FVIII products containing the von Willebrand factor, such as Octanate, for the prevention and treatment of inhibitor development. Inhibitor development in haemophilia patients is a serious and possibly life threatening complication for approximately 30% of patients with severe haemophilia being treated with concentrated FVIII. Inhibitors are IgG antibodies that react with FVIII and interfere with its haemostatic function.

The goals of immune tolerance induction (ITI) therapy in these patients are to eradicate the FVIII-inhibitors in order to enable regular FVIII-prophylaxis afterwards. In affected patients, high titre antibodies against factor VIII result in poor control of bleedings, which may have a dramatic influence on the patient’s quality of life and severely jeopardize the short and long-term clinical outcome of the disease. The international, investigator driven OBSITI study, initiated by Dr. Dres Kreuz and Dr. Escuriola at the Haemophilia treatment center at the University Clinics in Frankfurt, Germany, is expected to provide evidence that success in inhibitor treatment may be influenced, in terms of efficacy in inhibitor elimination and length of treatment required, by the type of product used, and is expected to show that VWF containing FVIII products show significant improvement over the use of non-VWF containing products.

The symposium also included Yuri Zhulyov, President of the Russian Haemophilia Association, who shared his experience on how their patient organisation operates with lobbying activities towards federal authorities. Yuri’s presentation entitled, Activity of the Russian Haemophilia Society in the Health Care System Reform in Russia, provided information regarding recent improvements for haemophilia patients in Russia that have recently been dramatically improved.

Annica Arnberg and Per Eriksson,
Octapharma, talking to delegates.
Octapharma supports the patient organisations in their strive to achieve adequate treatment for haemophiliacs and has collaborated with the Russian organisation to that effect. The very high early ITI-success rates with Octanate in Russian patients are an outstanding example of this. Octapharma wants to inspire more patient organisation representatives to improve the situation for all haemophiliacs, both non-inhibitor and inhibitor patients. EHC provided an important forum for haemophilia patients and organisations to highlight our common objections.

Octapharma thanks the EHC, for the organisation of such an important meeting, EHC 2006. The next EHC will be held in Parma, Italy, in May 2007, http://www.ehc-parma2007.org/ 

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© Octapharma AG, 2006