Hemophilia in a Changing Treatment Landscape

The mainstay of hemophilia management has been the regular, prophylactic infusion of missing coagulation factors VIII/IX. This approach is limited by the need for frequent intravenous infusions, high cost, limited availability, and the development of inhibitory antibodies to factors VIII/IX. Numerous recent breakthroughs are addressing many of these limitations. These include the development of extended half-life factors that require less frequent infusions and the development of various novel agents that can be given subcutaneously and infrequently, including FVIII-mimetic antibody and downregulators of natural anticoagulants. Finally, gene therapy is set to offer patients a possibility for a cure.