How Assistance Works
Streamlining our patient’s specialty pharmacy experience with unmatched full-service convenience
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1. Check Your Coverage/Benefits Verification
Our team of expert billers finds the best avenues of coverage that minimize out-of-pocket costs.
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2. Transfer Prescription to AmeriPharma®
We process your prescription by working with your previous pharmacy or prescriber, making the transition quick and easy.
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3. Prior Authorization
Our team of specialists obtains approval from your insurance companies within 24 to 72 hours.
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4. Copay Assistance & Financial Aid
We secure financial aid and decrease copays, out-of-pocket expenses, and high deductibles. To date, AmeriPharma® Specialty Care has secured $55 million in financial assistance for our patients.
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5. Nursing Care Coordination If Needed
AmeriPharma® puts your schedule and home environment first when scheduling and coordinating one of our specialized nurses for your in-home infusions.
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6. Delivery Coordination
Medications are always delivered in strict compliance with the specific requirements for shipping. Next-day and overnight cold-chain deliveries are coordinated around your schedule.
What Is Hemlibra?
Hemlibra (emicizumab-kxwh) is a medication made by Genentech, a subsidiary of the Roche corporation. This medication is used for preventing or reducing bleeding episodes in people with hemophilia A, whether they have factor VIII inhibitors or not. It was first approved by the FDA on November 16, 2017, for hemophilia A patients with factor VIII inhibitors. Later, on October 4, 2018, the approval was extended for patients with hemophilia A without factor VIII inhibitors.
People with hemophilia A don’t have enough of a protein called factor VIII in their bodies.
This protein plays a very crucial role in the blood clotting process. Therefore, when someone with hemophilia A gets a cut or injury, their blood doesn’t clot properly. This can lead to longer bleeding, internal bleeding, and more problems.
Before the FDA approved Hemlibra, factor VIII replacement therapy was the primary treatment for hemophilia A. This therapy involved injecting external factor VIII proteins to compensate for the deficiency in hemophilia A patients. However, a common problem with this therapy is that, over time, some people develop inhibitors. Inhibitors are antibodies that attack factor VIII, making the treatment ineffective. Hemlibra offers a solution to this issue. It can prevent bleeding in people with hemophilia A, whether they have inhibitors or not.
What Is Hemlibra Used To Treat?
Hemlibra is a breakthrough medication that is primarily used to treat hemophilia A. Hemophilia A is a rare genetic disorder that affects blood clotting due to a deficiency in clotting factor VIII.
Hemlibra is prescribed to be taken regularly. It prevents or reduces bleeding episodes in patients of all ages, including newborns, with hemophilia A. This medication is effective for both adults and children with this condition, whether they have factor VIII inhibitors or not.
How Does Hemlibra Work?
Hemophilia A is a bleeding disorder caused by a missing clotting factor called factor VIII, which is a protein that helps in blood clotting. When you have an insufficient amount of factor VIII, your blood struggles to form clots when you have an injury.
Hemlibra is an antibody that mimics factor VIII, the missing protein in hemophilia A.
Normally, factor VIII links factor IX and factor X to aid in blood clotting. However, in hemophilia A, this link is missing. Hemlibra fills this gap by bringing factor IX and factor X together, helping clot formation. This action reduces the danger of bleeding episodes, providing relief to people who have hemophilia A.
The usual treatment for hemophilia A is replacing factor VIII. However, some people may develop inhibitors over time, which can make this treatment ineffective. However, Hemlibra works uniquely. Rather than directly replacing factor VIII, Hemlibra performs the same function as factor VIII by joining other blood proteins. This means it remains effective, even if inhibitors are present.
How Hemlibra Copay Assistance Works
AmeriPharma® Specialty Pharmacy alleviates financial burdens for patients and their families
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Advanced software locates funding sources to match you with top-dollar foundation programs
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One of our copay assistance specialists will assist with the application process
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Automatic updates will be sent to you and your physician on the status of the funding
Dosing Information
Hemlibra is administered subcutaneously through injections. The dosing depends on various factors like your weight and treatment history. Hemlibra treatment usually starts with loading doses, followed by maintenance doses. Loading doses rapidly increase the drug’s concentration in your body. They are higher than maintenance doses.
The first four doses are loading doses. They are given at 3 mg/kg of body weight once weekly. After that, each subsequent dose is known as a maintenance dose. They are given as:
- 1.5 mg/kg of body weight once weekly, or
- 3 mg/kg of body weight once every 2 weeks, or
- 6 mg/kg of body weight once every 4 weeks
You have to discontinue the use of bypassing agents the day before starting Hemlibra treatment. If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember and then continue with your regular dosing schedule.
Hemlibra Side Effects
Common side effects include:
- Headache
- Joint Pain
- Reactions at the injection site, including redness, warmth, itching, or tenderness
Serious side effects include:
- Blood clots and injury to small blood vessels that cause harm to the kidney, brain, and other organs
- Blood clots that may form in blood vessels in your arms, legs, lungs, or head
- Stomach, chest, and back pain
- Confusion and weakness
- Swelling, pain, or redness
- Eye pain or trouble seeing
- Shortness of breath, coughing up blood
Insurances Accepted
We accept Medicare, multi-state Medicaid, Medi-Cal, Blue Shield, and most private insurances. Call us to find out more about your coverage.
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