Biogen Idec to Donate Hemophilia Drugs to Developing Nations

Biogen Idec will donate one billion units of its hemophilia drug for use in developing nations, where thousands of patients don’t get the help they need due to prohibitive costs, the company said.

Units of clotting factor, the synthetic proteins that help prevent hemophiliacs from uncontrollable bleeding, will be distributed over the next 10 years to countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The donation is expected to prevent more than 75,000 joint bleeds and over 2,000 life-threatening bleeds.

Hemophilia is a rare genetic bleeding disorder that causes the blood to clot abnormally. It occurs in males, affecting roughly 400,000 people worldwide. However, more than 300,000, mostly in poorer countries, go without regular treatment, according to the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH). A severe hemophiliac can need up to 5,000 units of clotting factor a week.

Without clotting factor, hemophilia can cause internal bleeding that can damage one's organs and tissues. Treatment is so scarce in developing countries that people with hemophilia often don’t live into adulthood, according to the WFH.

The WFH, which supports patients in 122 countries, asked pharmaceutical companies to help meet the need for clotting factor in the developing world. The donation, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, will help patients while also garnering attention for its new line of clotting factor drugs.

“Giving away a free product that can help thousands of patients is more than a marketing tactic,” said Biogen Idec spokeswoman Kate Niazi-Sai.

Biogen Idec says clinical trials have shown their clotting factors last longer than others, meaning patients don’t have to inject the drug as often. Their drugs are more expensive however, making overall costs of treatment the same.

Alprolix, Biogen’s therapy for hemophilia B, received FDA approval in March and is for sale in the U.S. The company expects approval this year for Eloctate, a drug treating the more common hemophilia A, which is a deficiency of a different clotting factor than for hemophilia B.

Both drugs will be included in Biogen Idec's donation, which start shipping out in the second half of 2015. — Kellen Owings

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