Experience of switching to NovoEight: views of people with haemophilia

Management of haemophilia A requires administration of factor VIII therapy which, for those with severe haemophilia A in the UK, is predominantly self-administered at home in a prophylactic regimen to prevent or minimise bleeding. The UK undertakes a national tendering process every three years to ensure access to current and new therapies at a cost-effective price, through contracting for large volumes from individual suppliers. This means that some products may no longer be available and that new products can enter the UK market at any tendering stage.

In the latest tendering round, in 2018, more than one product was withdrawn from the UK market and a new product (NovoEight^®; Novo Nordisk) was added to the prescribing list. This meant people with haemophilia having to change products. The experience of 77 people with haemophilia or their carers who changed treatment products during this process was captured by questionnaires administered by haemophilia nurses from 12 treatment centres. Overall, although people with haemophilia felt that they had little influence in decision making about changing to NovoEight, they were confident with their new treatment including packaging and accessories for administration. This was seen more in those who switched from plasma-derived products where ease of infusion was rated highly. Users’ views of haemophilia treatment should be collected at times of change to identify facilitators and barriers experienced in self-management