Evolution of the European guidelines for the clinical development of factor VIII products: Little progress towards improved patient management

In the process of clinical development and licensing of factor VIII (FVIII) products for treatment of haemophilia A, the safety concerns generated in the 1980s by the risk of pathogen transmission were tremendously reduced by the implementation of an array of methods for inactivation/removal of blood borne pathogens. The current focus on the risk of FVIII inhibitors does not stem from a new awareness, because this multifactorial complication has long been recognized. With this background, I believe that the current European regulatory guidelines for the clinical development and licensing of FVIII products fail to reflect the tremendous progress made in terms of clinical efficacy and safety, because they are witnessing a continuous increase in the demands from health agencies to the point that clinical studies have become more and more difficult to carry out. This article reviews the evolution of the European regulations on new FVIII products, lists a number of regulatory requirements whose scientific and/or clinical rationale is perhaps questionable and recommends keeping such requirements in reasonable limits of feasibility, without jeopardizing current high standards of efficacy and safety.