JW Pharmaceutical said Wednesday that it has launched Hemlibra (ingredient: emicizumab), a hemophilia A preventive therapy developed by Chugai Pharmaceutical, in Korea.

JW Pharmaceutical hemophilia A treatment Hemlibra

Hemlibra is a first-in-class drug and the only subcutaneous (SC) hemophilia A treatment approved in Korea that uses dual-specific antibody technology that mimics the coagulation mechanism of Factor VIII, and binds to activated Factor XI and Factor X at the same time, the company said.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has approved the drug in treating patients with severe hemophilia A who have the Factor VIII antibody.

More specifically, hospitals can use the treatment on patients aged 12 or more and weighing 40 kg or more, an antibody titer of 5BU (Bethesda Unit)/mL or more, or if the patient had six or more bleeding episodes in the last 24 weeks and has received a bypass factor or failed to respond to immunotolerance induction therapy.

The company had received expanded indication for the drug as a routine preventive therapy for non-antibody hemophilia A patients in March.

JW stressed that while all of the preventive therapies launched so far have had to be administered intravenously two or three times a week, the treatment has dramatically improved patient convenience as they can extend intervals between once a week and once every four weeks depending on doctors’ opinions.

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