ASH 2021 | How emicizumab has changed hemophilia A management

Guy Young, MD, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles & Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, discusses approaches to hemophilia A management in light of the evolving treatment landscape, commenting particularly on how emicizumab has impacted the field. Emicizumab is a newly approved bispecific monoclonal antibody that bridges activated factor IX and factor X to restore function of missing activated factor VIII. Data from clinical-trials, long-term follow-up investigations, and real-world studies were reviewed to investigate the impact of emicizumab in adults, teenagers, school aged children, and infants. Dr Young notes that the challenges relating to disease management are different across age groups and thus, this novel agent is used differently. Dr Young discusses what is known about the benefits of emicizumab in different patient subgroups and highlights remaining questions. This interview took place at the 63rd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition congress in Atlanta, GA.