Biogen Idec and Sobi to provide haemophilia therapies to developing world

Biogen Idec and Sobi have committed to donating one billion international units of clotting factor therapy for humanitarian aid programmes benefiting haemophilia patients worldwide.

An initial 500 million units will be produced and offered to the World Federation of Hemophilia over five years, supporting efforts to raise the standard of care for people with haemophilia in the developing world. The remaining units will be made available for future distribution.

The aim of this will be to ensure a predictable, sustained humanitarian supply of factor therapy is available in the world's poorest countries, thus helping to improve the quality and patient care and guarantee better outcomes.

It is estimated that the promised one billion units can be used to treat more than 75,000 joint bleeding episodes and over 2,000 life-threatening bleeding episodes, as well as making it possible to conduct thousands of elective surgical procedures.

Dr George Scangos, chief executive officer of Biogen Idec, said: "Haemophilia 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."

The companies are responsible for creating the haemophilia treatment Alprolix, which received US market approval earlier this year.