Life on Hemlibra
If your bleed requires treatment, you will need to use factor VIII replacement therapy. Your haemophilia team will explain when to treat a bleed and the correct dose of factor VIII replacement therapy to use.
If you are using HealthID or have a MedicAlert bracelet or necklace, you could consider updating your information.
Hemlibra increases the ability of your blood to clot. Therefore the dose of factor VIII needed to stop a bleed may be different to the dose you used before you started Hemlibra prophylaxis.
What side effects might I get with Hemlibra?
Very common: may affect more than 1 in 10 people
- A reaction in the area where the injection is given (redness, itching, pain)
- Headache
- Joint pain
Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 people
- Fever
- Muscle aches
- Diarrhoea
- Itchy rash or hives (urticaria)
- Skin rash
Uncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 people
- Destruction of red blood cells (thrombotic microangiopathy)
- Blood clot in a vein behind your eye (cavernous sinus thrombosis)
- Severe damage of the skin tissue (skin necrosis)
- Blood clot in a vein near the surface of the skin (superficial thrombophlebitis)
- Swollen face, tongue and/or throat and/or difficulty in swallowing, or hives, together with difficulty in breathing which are suggestive of an angioedema
- Lack of effect or decreased response to treatment
- Allergic reaction
If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in the package leaflet. You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard, or search for MHRA Yellow Card in the Google Play or Apple App Store.
You should also report side effects to Roche Products Ltd by emailing the Roche Drug Safety Centre at welwyn.uk_dsc@roche.com or calling +44 (0) 1707 367554.
By reporting side effects you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.
Antibody formation (immunogenicity)
You may notice that bleeding is not being controlled with your prescribed dose of Hemlibra. This could be due to the development of antibodies to this medicine.
Talk to your doctor immediately if you or your caregiver notices an increase in bleeds. Your doctor may decide to change your treatment if this medicine stops working for you.
Hemlibra clinical trials1,2
Hemlibra has been tested in clinical trials in people with severe and moderate haemophilia A.
Hemlibra treatment was tested in people who previously used either: on-demand treatment with factor VIII therapy or prophylaxis with factor VIII therapy.
Findings from these clinical trials suggest that taking Hemlibra can help prevent bleeding or reduce the number of bleeding episodes.
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