1 Billion International Units of Clotting Factor Donated to Developing World

Early this morning Biogen Idec and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) announced their intent to produce and deliver one billion units (IUs) of clotting factor therapy for humanitarian aid programs in the developing world.  The announcement came at the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) 2014 World Congress in Melbourne, Australia and is believed to be the largest ever donation of its kind.

Initially the companies have committed to donating up to 500 million to WFH over five years to support its efforts to raise the standard of care for patients with hemophilia in countries where factor is not readily or easily available.  The remaining 500 million IUs of clotting factor will be made available for future distribution.

According to WFH, there are an estimated 400k individuals living with hemophilia globally and nearly three quarters of them live in areas where access to diagnosis and treatment are limited.

“All of us at Biogen Idec are dedicated to making life better for people living with hemophilia,” said George A. Scangos, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Biogen Idec via the press release. “Hemophilia occurs all over the world, and this donation will provide some level of care to thousands of people who otherwise would not have access to treatment.”

This commitment is estimated to provide medical staff the ability to treat 75k episodic joint bleeds, more than 2k life threatening bleeding episodes, and to conduct thousands of surgical procedures that would not be possible without the access to clotting factor.

“The WFH humanitarian aid program would exist in name only if not for the generous donations we receive from companies such as Biogen Idec and Sobi,” said WFH President Alain Weill. “Their generosity today brings us 500 million steps closer to making the WFH vision of treatment for all a reality.”

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