Coagulation factor concentrates with prolonged half-life in haemophilia treatment

Abstract

The treatment of patients with haemophilia A and B is based on substitution of factor VIII and factor IX. The half-life of factor VIII (about 11hours) and factor IX (about 18hours) are rather short, so frequency of prophylactic infusions of factor VIII and factor IX concentrates are not less than 3 or 2 times a week. The development of new factor VIII and factor IX concentrates with longer half-lives makes possible the prolongation of time between doses and the improvement of prophylaxis efficacy. The fusion of factor IX to polyethylene glycol, Fc fragment of immunoglobulin G or albumin prolonged half-life of this coagulation protein to almost 100hours. The half-life of factor VIII concentrate, with recombinant factor VIII combined with polyethylene glycol or Fc fragment of immunoglobulin G is prolonged to about 19hours. Modification of factor VIII structure to produce single-chain protein with increased binding to von Willebrand factor is a new promising project as well. The introduction of coagulation concentrates with prolonged half-life will improve the quality of life of patients with severe type of haemophilia.