Octapharma to address unmet needs in von Willebrand disease as a proud sponsor of WFH 2022 World Congress

LACHEN, Switzerland, April 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — As part of its ongoing commitment to the global bleeding disorders community, Octapharma is pleased to be a Gold Sponsor of the upcoming World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH) 2022 World Congress, taking place from May 8 to 11, 2022. This continues Octapharma’s long history of involvement and support of the WFH World Congress and the WFH community. This year’s Congress will be a hybrid meeting bringing together international attendees in-person in Montréal, Canada, with select sessions broadcast through the Congress’s virtual platform.

As part of its “Under the Spotlight” series, Octapharma will highlight key unmet needs of people living with von Willebrand disease (VWD) during a live symposium. Attendees will have the opportunity to raise questions during the Q&A session. The symposium will be streamed in real-time to virtual Congress attendees, and available on-demand to participants after the Congress.

VWD affects males and females equally but is diagnosed more frequently in women due to bleeding associated with menstruation and childbirth. Guidelines for managing these issues are, however, inadequate. The Octapharma symposium will follow the story of Suzanne, a young woman with VWD, and her experiences with heavy menstrual bleeding, pregnancy complications and surgery, and the transformative impact effective treatment has had on her life. 

The symposium, entitled “From clinical insights to patient experience: Suzanne’s journey with von Willebrand disease,” will be held on Tuesday May 10, 08:00–09:00 EST. The chair, Dr Fernando F. Corrales-Medina will be joined by a faculty of international experts comprised of Drs Michelle Sholzberg, Jill Johnsen and Alok Srivastava. In addition to Suzanne’s story, the faculty will present recent data and ongoing studies on the management of heavy menstrual bleeding, perioperative bleeding, and childbirth in people with VWD, including the role of VWF/FVIII concentrates such as wilate^® in these situations. 

Larisa Belyanskaya, Head of Octapharma’s IBU Haematology, said, “Hearing the experiences of patients and their families affected by bleeding disorders reminds us of the significance of our work.”

Olaf Walter, Board Member of Octapharma, commented, “WFH is a valuable forum for interaction, collaboration and sharing knowledge with global experts and diverse members of the international bleeding disorder community. Our contribution to the Congress reinforces our long-standing commitment to improving care for every patient living with a bleeding disorder.”

About Octapharma

Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines.

Octapharma employs around 10,000 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 118 countries with products across three therapeutic areas: Immunotherapy, Haematology, and Critical Care.

Octapharma has seven R&D sites and five state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Austria, France, Germany and Sweden, and operates more than 180 plasma donation centres across Europe and the US.

About wilate^®

wilate^® is a high-purity human von Willebrand factor/factor VIII (VWF/FVIII) concentrate, that undergoes two virus inactivation steps during its production^[1]. No albumin is added as a stabiliser^[1]. The purification processes result in a 1:1 ratio of VWF to FVIII that is similar to normal plasma^[1]. wilate^® contains a VWF triplet structure and content of large high molecular weight multimers similar to normal human plasma^[1]. wilate^® is exclusively derived from large pools of human plasma collected in approved plasma donation centres^[2]. wilate^® is available in 500 IU and 1000 IU presentations. wilate^® is indicated for the prevention and treatment of haemorrhage or surgical bleeding in von Willebrand disease (VWD), when desmopressin (DDAVP) alone is ineffective or contra-indicated, and for the treatment and prophylaxis of bleeding in patients with haemophilia A (congenital factor VIII deficiency)^[2].

1. Stadler M et al. Biologicals 2006; 34:281-8.
2. wilate^® Summary of Product Characteristics.

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