Hemophilia A patients and their treatment providers are now better able to manage their condition, thanks to an enhanced HeliTrax™ System from CSL Behring. Patients can now track and record their treatment progress in real time anywhere that internet access is available. By using a password-protected web interface, hemophilia A patients can easily input their treatment data and monitor their condition online even when they are not carrying their handheld electronic diary.
HeliTrax was launched by CSL Behring in 2008 to help improve patient-treatment team communications and therapy management. It is a wireless, state-of-the-art, data management system that allows hemophilia A patients to enter into the website or handheld device information about their bleeding events and dosing of Helixate® FS , Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant). The details recorded can then be tracked by the patient and his treatment team.
"HeliTrax allows us to receive real time reporting of bleeds in our patients, which previously we were only able to review every six months, during their comprehensive visit," said Margy Sennett, RN, MS, CPNP, CPON, University of Virginia Children’s Hospital. "This technology gives us the ability to intervene sooner when we determine a patient has developed target joint bleeding."
The enhancements to HeliTrax allow for a seamless synchronization of data between the website and handheld device, ensuring that the most recent information will always be available. Patients can now use the website to generate reports, analyze information and print their treatment data, while also managing their Helixate FS product inventory.
"Managing hemophilia can be challenging for patients and their caregivers," said Garrett E. Bergman, M.D., Senior Director, Medical Affairs, U.S. Commercial Operations at CSL Behring. "The enhancements to HeliTrax demonstrate CSL Behring’s continued commitment to the bleeding disorders community through innovation. These enhancements will make it easier and more convenient for patients to record and monitor their infusions, and easier for the hemophilia treatment team to manage the patient’s therapy."
"Using HeliTrax helps empower my son to take control of his bleeding disorder and treatment," said Kristin Prior, M.S., whose 14-year-old son currently uses the system. "Because HeliTrax is fun and easy to use, my son is more invested in his responsibility to manage his disorder. He is now keeping better track of his treatment regimen by remaining in communication with the treatment center."
Additional enhancements to the HeliTrax System that aim to improve convenience and treatment compliance include:
- Patients can maintain a record of other types of therapies used in their treatment, as HeliTrax now provides a way to capture this information.
- The system now supports more than one patient’s information, making it more convenient for family members to share a single handheld device.
- Hemophilia Treatment Centers that need multiple healthcare providers to access the system now have the ability to do so by using individual log-in credentials.
- New reporting functionality for the treatment team captures additional data to enhance the clinical snapshot of a patient’s therapy management.
For more information about Helixate FS and HeliTrax, please visit www.HelixateFS.com or call CSL Behring Consumer Affairs at 1-888-508-6978.
About Hemophilia
Hemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder characterized by prolonged or spontaneous bleeding, especially into the muscles, joints, or internal organs. About 15,000 Americans have hemophilia. The disease is caused by deficient or defective blood coagulation proteins known as factor VIII or factor IX. The most common form of the disease is hemophilia A, or classical hemophilia, in which the clotting factor VIII is either deficient or defective. Hemophilia B is characterized by deficient or defective factor IX.
About Helixate FS
Helixate FS is a recombinant factor VIII product indicated for the treatment of hemophilia A that offers convenient administration with a 2.5-mL volume diluent; no available factor VIII product has a smaller diluent size. The 2000 vial size requires a 5.0 mL volume diluent. No albumin is used in the formulation or purification of Helixate FS, and its manufacture includes a solvent/detergent viral inactivation step.
Known intolerance or allergic reactions to constituents of the preparation is a contraindication to the use of Helixate FS. Known hypersensitivity to mouse or hamster protein may be a contraindication to the use of Helixate FS. The most frequently reported adverse events were local injection site reactions, dizziness, and rash.
In 2006, the FDA gave approval for Helixate FS to be stored at room temperature (up to 25°C, 77°F) for three months. The storage guidelines for the hemophilia treatment provide users with greater flexibility and simplify storage options.
Please visit www.helixatefs.com/prescribinginformation.aspx for prescribing information.
Helixate® FS is manufactured by Bayer HealthCare LLC for CSL Behring LLC.
About CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a global leader in the plasma protein biotherapeutics industry. Passionate about improving the quality of patients' lives, CSL Behring manufactures and markets a range of safe and effective plasma-derived and recombinant products and related services. The company's therapies are used in the treatment of immune deficiency disorders, hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, other bleeding disorders and inherited emphysema. Other products are used for the prevention of hemolytic diseases in the newborn, in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation and in the treatment of burns. The company also operates one of the world's largest plasma collection networks,
Contacts:
Greg Healy, Senior Manager, Public Relations & Communications
U.S. Commercial Operations
CSL Behring
610-878-4841
Greg.Healy@cslbehring.com