What Is Alhemo, and Why Does It Matter?
Alhemo (concizumab-mtci) is a medicine approved to help prevent bleeding in people aged 12 or older with hemophilia A or B who don’t have inhibitors to certain blood clotting proteins. Hemophilia is a rare condition that affects about 800,000 people around the world. It makes it hard for your blood to clot, which can lead to serious or frequent bleeding.
Alhemo was already approved for people with inhibitors. This approval expands its use to more people living with hemophilia.
Alhemo works by blocking a protein in your body called tissue factor pathway inhibitor, which normally slows down clotting. By blocking it, Alhemo helps your body make more thrombin, a substance that helps form clots and stop bleeding.
This approval matters because many people with hemophilia still rely on intravenous (IV) infusions, which can be hard to manage. Alhemo is given as a once-daily shot under the skin. This kind of daily injection might be easier and more convenient for people to use regularly and could make their treatment routine simpler.
Why Was It Approved?
Alhemo was approved after a study showed it helped reduce bleeding in people with hemophilia A or B who don’t have inhibitors. In the study, people who used Alhemo had fewer bleeding episodes than those who got standard treatment whenever bleeding happened. Bleeding dropped by 86% in people with hemophilia A and by 79% in those with hemophilia B.
The most common side effects reported in the study were mild and included reactions where the needle entered the skin and headaches. Less common but more serious risks include blood clots and allergic reactions, such as skin rashes, itching, or stomach pain.
The study included people aged 12 or older. Alhemo has not been studied in children under 12 or in people who are receiving immune tolerance therapy, which is a treatment used to help the body accept clotting factor products.
What Do I Need to Know?
Alhemo is given once a day as a shot under the skin using a prefilled injection pen. Avoid injecting in the areas where your skin is tender, bruised, red, or hard or has moles, scars, or stretch marks. It comes in different strengths, and your health care provider will choose the dose that’s right for you. Always use a new needle for each shot. Do not share your Alhemo pen with other patients, even if the needle is changed.
You’ll start with a higher dose first and then switch to a lower daily dose to keep the medicine working. It’s important to take Alhemo every day, especially during the first month, to help prevent bleeding. Missing doses or stopping the medicine could lower its ability to protect you.
If you have a breakthrough bleed while using Alhemo, your health care provider may also prescribe other clotting factor treatments to help stop the bleeding.
You should not use Alhemo if you’re allergic to any of its ingredients. Talk to your health care provider if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to have surgery as they may need to adjust your dose. If you can get pregnant, discuss with your health care provider about using birth control while you are taking Alhemo and for seven weeks after you stop.