Treatment of Hemophilia A with a Highly Purified Factor VIII Concentrate Prepared by Anti-FVIIIc Immunoaffinity Chromatography

Abstract

To reduce the risk of pathogenic virus transmission associated with the therapeutic administration of plasma-derived anti-hemophilic factor (FVIIIc), a process utilizing anti-FVIIIc immunoaffinity chromatography to isolate FVIIIc has been developed. In addition, the starting cryoprecipitate solution has been treated with an organic solvent/detergent mixture to inactivate lipid-enveloped viruses. A final ion exchange chromatography step is used to further remove contaminants, e.g., anti-FVIIIc antibody, potentially leached with FVIIIc during the immunoaffinity step. The purified FVIII is stabilized for lyophilization and storage by the addition of human albumin. The monoclonal anti-FVIIIc antibody used in the immunoaffinity step of the process is not detectable in the final preparation. Viral reduction studies performed at specific steps of the process demonstrate that 11 logs of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and greater than 4-5 logs of other lipid-enveloped viruses are inactivated within the first 30 s of exposure to the solvent/detergent mixture and 4-5 logs of various model viruses, e.g. Endomyocarditis virus (EMC), are physically removed during washing of the immunoaffinity column. The lyophilized product is reconstituted using sterile water in a matter of seconds. The pharmacokinetics of Hemofil M were compared to those obtained using a standard heat-treated concentrate (Hemofil CT) in five severe factor VIII deficient hemophiliacs in a randomized, cross-over study. No statistically significant differences were observed in mean half life (p greater than 0.6) or median recovery (p = 0.4) between the two preparations. No clinically significant adverse effects were observed in patients receiving either FVIII preparation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)