Pfizer launches dual-chamber syringe for patients with hemophilia

Pfizer Inc. recently launched a syringe that aims to help hemophilia patients lead active lives and take care of their condition faster and easier.

Its new Prefilled Dual-Chamber Syringe to administer Xyntha antihemophilic factor (recombinant) plasma/albumin-free includes the Xyntha powder and the diluents within the syringe. This eliminates the transfer step during reconstitution.

“All you have to do is push one button. In the past, [antihemophilic syringes] were multi-step kits with a syringe, several needles, and 2 vials,” said Marcus Carr, Jr., MD, PhD, FACP, Hematology Disease Area Lead for Pfizer’s Specialty Care Business Unit. The Dual-Chamber Syringe is easier for patients - who typically don’t have full range of motion in one or both arms - and for their caregivers to use, Carr said.

The syringe is used to deliver Xyntha by intravenous infusion after reconstitution of a freeze-dried powder with the diluents (0.9% sodium chloride). The new, prefilled syringe provides 3,000 IU of plasma, the highest dose, in a low, 4 mL volume. Other dosages of Xyntha will be available in the Dual-Chamber Syringe later this year.

Xyntha is a recombinant factor VIII product indicated for both the control and prevention of bleeding episodes in patients with hemophilia A and for surgical prophylaxis in patients with hemophilia A.