TUESDAY, July 29, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new clotting factor to treat people with hemophilia A. It's the first such treatment produced without using additives derived from human or animal blood, the agency says, eliminating the risk of viral and bacterial contamination with germs including hepatitis, HIV, and West Nile virus.
People with hemophilia are unable form blood clots, and risk life-threatening bleeding episodes. Advate (Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant), Plasma/Albumin-Free Method) is approved to prevent and control bleeding or to prepare hemophilia patients for surgery.
Existing clotting factors derived from human or animal plasma are processed to kill any germs before they are administered to hemophiliacs. None of these products has transmitted HIV or hepatitis since 1987, the FDA says.
Advate, rAHF-PFM is manufactured by Baxter Healthcare Corp.
For more information about disease, visit the World Federation of Hemophilia.
