More than 10 thousand hemophiliacs will benefit from the new drug SUS

About 10 thousand people in the country will benefit from the free offer, the Ministry of Health, a high-tech medicine to control bleeding in patients with hemophilia A. Approved on Thursday (7), recombinant factor VIII will be available within six months in Brazilian blood centers.

According to the folder, Brazil also began to produce the drug nationally, through technology transfer. It is the result of Productive Development Partnership (PDP) signed in October 2012 with the Brazilian Blood Products and Biotechnology (Hemobrás).

With this, the government takes on the drug at a price less than four times the average paid to meet the current lawsuits.

The partnership expands the population's access to medicines more modern and efficient and qualifies the attention given to hemophilia patients. This is the treatment that is most advanced in the world. With domestic production, the country will be able to meet about 90% of patients with the disease, except for patients intolerant to treatment, says Health Minister Alexandre Padilha.

Still according to the ministry, with the same effectiveness and safety of the plasma factor, already offered in the SUS, the new drug has the advantage of not relying on blood donations, which limits production.

Studies show that the rate of successful treatment with recombinant factor VIII is less than 90%. Currently, 97% of treatments for hemophilia performed in SUS occur with use of human plasma (plasma).

The remaining 3% are patients already receiving treatment with recombinant factor VIII through lawsuits. To meet them, the ministry spent between $ 1.5 to $ 1.75 per unit of the product. With this new PDP, it is estimated that by 2014 the use of recombinant factor VIII should correspond to 20% of total treatments.

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