The relative burden of haemophilia A and the impact of target joint development on health-related quality of life: results from the ADVATE Post-Authorization Safety Surveillance (PASS) study.

Studies with haemophilia A (HA) patients have shown burden in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) when compared with general population norms. In the current study, HA patients' SF-36v2 health survey scores were compared with general population norms and to patients with other chronic conditions. The impact of target joints (TJs) on HRQOL was also examined. The sample was a subset of HA patients enrolled in the Post-Authorization Safety Surveillance (PASS) programme: a prospective open-label study in which ADVATE [Antihaemophilic Factor (Recombinant), Plasma/Albumin-Free Method] was prescribed. A total of 205 patients who were ≥ 18 years old and had SF-36v2 baseline scores were selected for this study. To measure the burden of HA on HRQOL, manova analyses compared these SF-36v2 scores to age- and gender-matched general population US and EU norms and to patients from other chronic condition groups. manova and correlational analyses examined the relations among TJ, age and SF-36v2 scores. Comparisons with general population norms confirm that HA negatively impacts physical, but not mental, HRQOL. Comparison with other chronic conditions shows the physical burden of HA is greater than for chronic back pain but similar to diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, while the mental burden of HA is less than for all three patient groups. The presence of TJs was negatively associated with physical HRQOL, although this association was much larger for older patients (45+ years) than for younger ones. Physical, but not mental, HRQOL is diminished in HA patients. Target joints are associated with lower physical HRQOL, although this effect is moderated by age

ReFacto (R)(1) and Advate (R)(2): a single-dose, randomized, two-period crossover pharmacokinetics study in subjects with haemophilia A

ReFacto is a recombinant B-domain-deleted, monoclonal antibody-purified, solvent-detergent-treated factor VIII (BDDrFVIII) with no albumin added to the final formulation. Although ReFacto has been shown to be bioequivalent to a plasma-derived FVIII product (Hemophil-M) in a randomized, crossover pharmacokinetic (PK) study, the comparability of ReFacto with the full-length (complete sequence) recombinant FVIII (FLrFVIII, Advate) product has not been previously examined in this manner. The primary objective of this study was to compare the PKs of ReFacto with those of Advate in patients with severe haemophilia A. This was a third-party unblinded, randomized, multicentre, two-period crossover PKs study of ReFacto and Advate in subjects with severe haemophilia A (FVIII:C <= 1%). Blood samples were collected over a 48-h period after i.v. administration of each of the FVIII products. FVIII:C was determined using the chromogenic substrate assay (CSA) in a central laboratory. The plasma FVIII:C PK parameters of ReFacto and Advate were determined using non-compartmental analysis. Bioequivalence was assessed on maximum plasma concentration (C-max) and the area under the plasma concentration vs. time curves (AUCs) using an ANOVA. The two products were judged to be equivalent if the 90% confidence limits of the ratio of the geometric mean values of C-max and AUCs fell within the interval of 80-125%. Results from this PKs comparison of two different rFVIII products, using chromogenic substrate assay to measure FVIII:C, showed that ReFacto and Advate are bioequivalent to each other