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 Takhzyro?
Takhzyro (lanadelumab-flyo) is a prescription drug used to prevent swelling attacks of hereditary angioedema. It belongs to a family of drugs called monoclonal antibodies. These are similar to antibodies that our bodies make to protect us when an unwanted substance enters our bodies. In the case of Takhzyro, the antibody is a recombinant, full-human monoclonal antibody, which means that it is a human antibody that has been produced/replicated in the lab using Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells (CHO). It is then purified and sterilized to make it safe for human administration.
Takhzyro was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018 and can be administered to adults and children from age 12 and up. It comes in a liquid form that is injected under the skin. The active agent in the drug is lanadelumab. The suffix “flyo” is added to the name to distinguish it from other types of drugs that have been made and that will be made in the future.
Takhzyro is a biologic medication made from parts of living organisms, and there are currently no biosimilars for it. Takhzyro is only available as a brand-name medication.
How Does Takhzyro Work?
Hereditary angioedema is a genetic disorder. People suffering from this disorder do not produce enough C1 inhibitor protein (fully known as complement component C1 esterase inhibitor), and this condition is known as hereditary angioedema type I. Hereditary angioedema type II is a less common form of the disorder and may occur because of having abnormal C1 esterase proteins that do not function properly.
The main function of the C1 inhibitor protein is to reduce the activity of another protein, kallikrein, which is responsible for increasing blood pressure.
Besides increasing blood pressure, kallikrein also produces bradykinin, a peptide. This peptide is one of the body’s inflammatory mediators, which causes vasodilation (widening of blood vessels that happens near the skin surface) and leads to increased blood flow, causing swelling as well as the other symptoms that people with hereditary angioedema suffer. Therefore, with insufficient C1 inhibitor proteins, the kallikrein works unabated and produces excess bradykinin. When the quantity of the peptide increases in the body, certain body parts start to swell.
As a drug for preventing HAE attacks, Takhzyro works by assuming the function of the C1 inhibitor protein. It reduces the activity of the kallikrein protein, which reduces the production of the peptide responsible for the excessive swelling that comes with HAE. By blocking these proteins, the frequency and duration of swelling are reduced.
How Takhzyro 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
Dosage and What To Do in the Case of an Overdose
The usual dosage for adults and children above 12 years of age with HAE is a 300 mg injection every 2 weeks. This dosage may be reduced to 300 mg every 4 weeks if the patient has not had an angioedema attack for more than 6 months. However, the decision to reduce the dosage must come only from the doctor.
If you miss a dose, you should call your doctor immediately. The doctor will tell you if you are to take the missed dose immediately or wait until the next scheduled dose.
In case of an overdose, you should call your doctor right away. If the symptoms get severe, the next line of action is to call 911 or find your way to an emergency room as soon as possible.
Approval and Effectiveness
The FDA approved Takhzyro in 2018 as a drug for preventing hereditary angioedema attacks. In the clinical trials that preceded this approval, researchers discovered that the participants that took the 300 mg dose of Takhzyro every 4 weeks experienced 73% reduction in HAE attacks than those that did not. And participants who took the recommended initial dose of 300 mg once every 2 weeks experienced 87% fewer attacks than those who did not take the drug.
Takhzyro Side Effects
Mild side effects include:
- Pain, redness, or swelling where the shot was given
- Bruising where the shot was given
- Signs of a common cold
- Rash
- Diarrhea
- Headache
- Muscle pain
- Upper respiratory infections
- Dizziness
- Injection site reactions
Serious side effects include:
- For both children and adults, signs of an allergic reaction, including:
- Rash
- Hives
- Mouth tingling
- Itching
- Flushing of the skin
- Skin rash
- Trouble breathing, swallowing, or talking
- Swelling under your skin and other body parts
- Swelling of the mouth, face, lips, tongue, or throat.
- Fast heartbeat
- Very bad dizziness or passing out
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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