Octapharma AG, founded in 1983, is a family-owned pharmaceutical company, and bills itself as "one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines "

Therapeutic Areas

Patients in 118 countries are treated with products in the following therapeutic areas: *

Haematology Hematology ( always spelled haematology in British English) is the branch of medicine concerned with the study of the cause, prognosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases related to blood. It involves treating diseases that affect the produc ...

: high-purity coagulation factor concentrates for patients with bleeding disorders

Haemophilia Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...

A, B and

von Willebrand Disease Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common hereditary blood-clotting disorder in humans. An acquired form can sometimes result from other medical conditions. It arises from a deficiency in the quality or quantity of von Willebrand factor ( ...

. *

Immunotherapy Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as ''activation immunotherapies,'' while immunotherap ...

: immunomodulation or

immunoglobulin An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...

replacement therapy for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases and deficiencies (immune disorders including

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body part. At least 80 types of autoimmune diseases have been identified, with some evidence suggesting that there may be more than 100 types. Nearly a ...

s and antibody deficiency) by inducing, enhancing, or suppressing an immune response. * Critical Care: human plasma and protein products for treating critically ill or injured patients in

intensive care Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...

and

emergency medicine Emergency medicine is the medical speciality concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (often called “ER doctors” in the United States) continuously learn to care for unsche ...

settings.Octapharma Website http://www.octapharma.com/en/patients/diseases-therapies.html

History

Octapharma was founded in 1983. In the name Octapharma, the “octa” is derived from the Greek word for eight, named after the factor which is deficient in

haemophilia A Haemophilia A (or hemophilia A) is a genetic deficiency in clotting factor VIII, which causes increased bleeding and usually affects males. In the majority of cases it is inherited as an X-linked recessive trait, though there are cases which arise ...

patients. Octapharma's inaugural product was the first

Factor VIII Factor VIII (FVIII) is an essential blood-clotting protein, also known as anti-hemophilic factor (AHF). In humans, factor VIII is encoded by the ''F8'' gene. Defects in this gene result in hemophilia A, a recessive X-linked coagulation disorder. ...

concentrate using what was then innovative solvent detergent virus inactivation technology. The underlying principle of Octapharma's R&D is the development of therapies based on human proteins either purified from human plasma or produced by recombinant technologies applied to human cell lines.

Products

Octapharma medicines treat a broad range of rare and life-threatening congenital and acquired diseases and conditions: - bleeding disorders (hemophilia A / B and VWD) - over 300 types of primary and secondary immune deficiencies - numerous auto-immune and neurological disorders - acute conditions - critical care issues (including trauma and burn victims) - cancer patients - major surgeries - protection of new-borns in case of Rh negative pregnancies

Production

Octapharma converts source plasma into plasma protein products through fractionation and processing. Each therapy created is controlled, fractionated, purified, virus-inactivated and inspected before being used. As of December 31, 2021, Octapharma employs around 10,000 people worldwide. The company has seven R&D sites, five manufacturing facilities in Austria, France, Germany and Sweden, and operates more than 180 plasma donation centres across Europe and the US.

Notes and references

External links