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How Clotting Works

When a blood vessel is injured, a number of events take place to stop any bleeding that might occur. The goal is to form a stable clot to stop the bleeding. Here is a general description of the clotting process:

  1. The blood vessel is injured.
  2. The blood vessels constrict, or tighten, to slow the blood flow (vasoconstriction).
  3. Platelets—small cells in the blood—rush to the site of injury and cling to platelet receptors to form bridges.
  4. Together, the platelet bridges and von Willebrand factor (VWF) form layers, which act like a plug to stop the bleeding.
  5. Other clotting factor proteins also rush to the injury site to reinforce the clot.

VWF in normal human blood—and in Humate-P®1—have a lot of "high molecular weight multimers" (HMWMs). These HMWMs help blood to clot. Humate-P® has the most HMWMs amongst all of the VWF concentrates currently on the market.

The high molecular weight multimers (HMWMs) found in normal VWF have a lot of platelet receptors, so more platelets can gather together to form a plug.

By contrast, low molecular weight multimers (LMWMs) have fewer platelet receptors, so they form a less stable plug, which makes long-term blood clotting difficult or impossible.

In a study of six factor concentrates, Humate-P had the highest amount of HMWMs1, making it as close as it gets to normal VWF.


Important Safety Information

Antihemophilic Factor/von Willebrand Factor Complex (Human), Dried, Pasteurized, Humate-P® is indicated in adult patients for treatment and prevention of bleeding in hemophilia A (classical hemophilia). Humate-P® is also indicated in adult and pediatric patients with von Willebrand disease (VWD) for (1) treatment of spontaneous and trauma-induced bleeding episodes, and (2) prevention of excessive bleeding during and after surgery. This applies to patients with severe VWD, and patients with mild and moderate VWD for whom use of desmopressin is known or suspected to be inadequate.

Humate-P® is contraindicated in individuals with a history of anaphylactic or severe systemic response to antihemophilic factor or von Willebrand factor preparations or to any of its components.

Thromboembolic events have been reported in VWD patients receiving coagulation factor replacement, especially in the setting of known risk factors for thrombosis. Caution should be exercised and antithrombotic measures considered.

Humate-P® is derived from human plasma. As with all plasma-derived products, the risk of transmission of infectious agents, including viruses and, theoretically, the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) agent, cannot be completely eliminated.

Although few adverse reactions have been reported the most common are allergic-anaphylactic reactions, including urticaria, chest tightness, rash, pruritus, edema, shock, chills and fever, and hypervolemia. For patients undergoing surgery, the most common adverse reactions are postoperative wound or injection-site bleeding.

Please see accompanying full prescribing information for Humate-P®.

References

  1. Metzner HJ, Hermentin P, Cuesta-Linker T, Langner S, Müller H-G, Friedbold J. Characterization of factor VIII/von Willebrand factor concentrates using a modified method of von Willebrand factor multimer analysis. Hemophilia. 1998;4(suppl 3):25-32.