Meet Matt, a healthy-looking, athletic college student, just like hundreds of others on his campus. He plays pick-up basketball, rides his bike to classes, and likes to throw a Frisbee® on the lawn with his girlfriend. But there's one thing about Matt that sets him apart.

"I have severe hemophilia A, and during the summer I work at the Double-H Hole-in-the-Woods Ranch in upstate New York. It's a camp for kids with cancer, AIDS, hemophilia, sickle cell, leukemia, and blood-related and neuromuscular stuff. I actually went there when I was younger."

Matt Discovers ReFacto^® Antihemophilic Factor (Recombinant)
When Matt was younger, he was treated with clotting factor replacements distilled from human blood donations. Like almost all people with hemophilia, Matt was treated "on demand." That is, he infused with clotting factor following injuries with the potential to cause bleeds. Today, Matt's hemophilia is managed using prevention as well as on-demand treatment.

Recombinant DNA technology has made it possible for Matt to better avoid the risks of blood-borne viruses; he and his doctor transitioned to an early recombinant clotting factor. Infusing with the recombinant product was safer, but no more convenient than clotting factors made from plasma. When Wyeth introduced ReFacto, Matt learned about it at the local hemophilia treatment center. Then Matt asked his doctor about using ReFacto. He liked the fact that ReFacto had a smaller reconstituted volume (4 mL) and shorter infusion times.

"I started to use ReFacto right about the time when I first came to college, right around my freshman year. With the other recombinants, it was always a process getting the medicine infused. It was just a large amount. Once I saw that I could get the same amount of factor in my body, but with a smaller volume to infuse, I was drawn to ReFacto. So I talked about it with my doctor and we eventually got it."

Faster, More Convenient Infusions*
Once he started using it, Matt discovered the other features of ReFacto, like easy storage, viral safety, and the convenience of a 2000 IU vial.

"I didn't know at first that ReFacto was room-temperature storage. It was just an added plus for ReFacto, because I could store it under my bed. I didn't have to clog up my family refrigerator or my refrigerator at school with medicine. And the viral safety of ReFacto was definitely a plus, too. The 2000 IU vial makes dosing ReFacto simple for me, because I don't use as many vials for each infusion. I can infuse in three minutes and I'm on my way. ReFacto just seemed to have all the right things going for it."

*Compared with previous method for reconstituting ReFacto.

The Power of Prevention
Matt and his doctor treat hemophilia proactively with regular infusions to maintain a level of clotting factor in the blood. Matt infuses factor before activities that could cause a bleed, like playing basketball or going for a jog.

"When I was younger, my first target joint was my right ankle, and that was from playing baseball. It would swell up every once in a while. I'd have a lot of bleeds in it. I also had problems with my right elbow when I was around eight or nine. I had frequent bleeds in it, and now there's been some damage in there, so it's kind of hard to rotate my wrist over."

"I get bleeds much less often than I used to, before prophylaxis.^† When I was younger and playing sports and being an active little kid, I'd run around and get bleeds because I'd have no factor level in me. But now, with prophylaxis, it's rare to get a bleed. I'll have bleeds maybe once or twice a year."

^†ReFacto is indicated for the control and prevention of hemorrhagic episodes and for surgical prophylaxis and for short-term routine prophylaxis to reduce the frequency of spontaneous bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia A. The effect of regular routine prophylaxis on long-term morbidity and mortality is unknown.

ReFacto Fits Matt's Life
As a college student, Matt has a busy schedule. Where does ReFacto fit in?

"Well, ReFacto makes my college lifestyle of being on the go and doing random stuff all the time much easier. I have to run to class, run to different things here and there. Being able to just grab my medicine with a lot of the stuff already in the package is great. I can throw together my medicine quickly and inject."

It's easier than ever for Matt to stick to his treatment schedule with the Rapid Reconstitution (R2) kit. Learn about the ease of R2.

A Word to Parents
After living with hemophilia for more than 20 years, Matt has a few words for parents facing it for the first time.

"I've talked to parents about having a kid that might have hemophilia. They've come up to me because I'm active in the hemophilia chapter at home and I try to be helpful around the community and stuff. When that question does come up, I tell them that it's no big deal with the technology today that they put into the medicine. Kids today, they can usually do what they want. Infusion is a quick, easy process, and it really is not something that will hold you back in life. Some parents having a child might think that hemophilia could hold their child back, but it doesn't at all."

Indication
ReFacto is indicated for the control and prevention of hemorrhagic episodes and for surgical prophylaxis and for short-term routine prophylaxis to reduce the frequency of spontaneous bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia A. The effect of regular routine prophylaxis on long-term morbidity and mortality is unknown.

Important Safety Information

	•	As with the intravenous administration of any protein product, adverse reactions may include headache, fever, chills, flushing, nausea, vomiting, tiredness, or symptoms of allergic reactions.
	•	The remote possibility exists for hypersensitivity to non-human mammalian proteins. Known hypersensitivity to mouse or hamster proteins may be a contraindication to the use of ReFacto.
	•	Allergic reactions such as hives, itching, difficulty breathing, rapid heart rate, light-headedness and anaphylaxis have been reported for all factor VIII products. Patients should discontinue use of the product and contact their health care provider immediately and/or seek emergency care if any of these symptoms occur.

Please see ReFacto Prescribing Information

The health information contained herein is provided for educational purposes only and is not meant to replace personal discussions between health care providers and patients. All decisions about patient care must be made with a health care provider who can assess the special needs of each individual patient.

For more information, talk to your doctor and see the Product Information for ReFacto.

For a look at how young parents are dealing with hemophilia, see Tyler's story.