Bayer stops selling hemophilia drug

Kogenate FS

By Nam Hyun-woo

Bayer Korea announced Monday that it will stop supplying Kogenate FS for hemophilia patients here.

An official at Bayer Korea said the company has decided to stop importing the drug manufactured at its U.S. factory because global output has decreased.

“The drug can be prescribed for the first half of this year because there are stocks. But it will be unavailable ijn the latter half,” the official said.

The drug is used to treat hemophilia A patients who are genetically deficient in clotting factor VIII.

Hemophilia is a condition in which patients’ blood fails to clot; and the A variant usually affects males.

The decision, first announced last month, will likely affect some 2,100 hemophilia patients in the country.

According to the Korea Hemophilia Association, 80 to 100 patients take the drug.

The group said there are alternative medicines for Kogenate FS, such as Advate from Baxter or GreenGene F of Green Cross, but some 20 patients allegedly depend on the drug because of potential side effects.

The group staged a protest earlier this month in front of the company’s office in Seoul and stated “the company made such a decision following market logic and doesn’t care about patients depending on the drug.”

“Bayer Korea says patients can take alternative drugs, but each patient has different symptoms which require certain medication,” said an official at the association. “For some patients, the drug is irreplaceable,” he said.

According to the company, it talked with representatives from the group after the protest, and reported their demand to its headquarters, Bayer Healthcare.

The Bayer official said, “We understand patients’ concerns. In other countries, however, there were no reports of side-effects after patients changed medication.” She added that the Korean branch was not involved in the decision to stop supplying the drug.