SummaryThe safety of full-length sucrose-formulated recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII-FS; KOGENATE® FS) for up to 24 months of use was evaluated in a postmarketing observational study in Europe. Long-term safety and efficacy data were available for 212 patients with severe haemophilia A, including 13 previously untreated patients (PUPs) and 12 patients with 1–19 exposure days (EDs). Patients accumulated a mean (± SD) of 187 (121) EDs to rFVIII-FS and received a total of 39,627 infusions, mainly for prophylaxis and for the treatment of 4,283 spontaneous or trauma-related bleeds during an average observation time of 710 (136) days. Of these bleeding episodes, 85.4% were successfully treated with one or two infusions of rFVIII-FS. Haemostasis was also evaluated during 46 minor to major surgical pro- cedures, and the response to infusion was “excellent” or “good” in all cases. FVIII inhibitor formation was observed in six patients (two de novo; four persistent or recurrent). The de novo cases represent 8.0% (2 of 25) of patients who reported 0–19 previous EDs at study entry. Four of the five patients who reported possible drug-related adverse effects developed inhibitors. The results of this observational study demonstrate the efficacy and safety of rFVIII-FS during normal clinical use in the treatment of patients with severe haemophilia A. Furthermore, these findings are consistent with those of previous phase III clinical studies with rFVIII-FS, particularly with regard to its efficacy and low incidence of inhibitor formation.
Identification of a novel mutation in the factor VIII gene causing severe haemophilia A