New research from King’s Health Partners could significantly improve the treatment of patients with haemophilia A and cut NHS costs.

Haemophilia A is a serious bleeding disorder affecting 2,000 people in the UK.  Current treatment involves frequent injections of Factor VIII, an agent which helps clot the blood to control bleeding. New research has shown that by adding another clotting factor called Factor XIII, the need for Factor VIII could be significantly reduced and patients’ quality of life improved. If research progresses smoothly, this new factor could be a stand-alone treatment for mild to moderate forms of haemophilia and be in the clinic within five years.

Currently, treatments for severe haemophilia are expensive and account for a comparatively large portion of the NHS budget, with an adult patient costing up to £100,000 per year.

The breakthrough from the Haemostasis Research Unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ and King’s College London, as part of King’s Health Partners, could improve quality of treatment and drastically cut the cost of treating haemophilia A by a conservative estimate of up to 25 per cent. A major advantage with Factor XIII is that it stays circulating in the blood for a long time, so patients would only needed to be injected once or twice a month rather than one to three times a week.

The impact across the world would be even more dramatic as up to 70 per cent of people with haemophilia do not receive any treatment at all and people with severe haemophilia A rarely reach adolescence.

“Guy’s and St Thomas’ is one of the biggest Haemophilia Centres in the UK, and one of its roles is to make surgery safe for patients with haemophilia. Without special care surgical procedures would be extremely dangerous due to the risk of bleeding,” says Dr Benny Sørensen, Head of the Haemostasis Research Unit. “Patients with haemophilia currently require lengthy admissions during their surgery with twice-daily infusions of clotting factor. This research could reduce this regimen and their length of hospital stay. By helping to strengthen blood clotting, it will reduce the cost of surgery and recovery.”

Read more on the Guy’s and St Thomas’ website here.