Shire Joins World Thrombosis Day Campaign as Global Supporter to Raise Awareness of Life-Threatening Blood Clots

October 2, 2018

CHAPEL HILL, NC, USA – October 2, 2018 — The World Thrombosis Day campaign today announced that Shire plc, the global biotechnology leader in rare diseases, has joined the campaign as a Global Supporter of its global awareness initiative to reduce death and disability caused by thrombosis, also known as blood clots. Observed on 13 October, World Thrombosis Day, led by the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH), mobilizes 1,500 partner organizations to hold more than 9,000 awareness events worldwide each year. Last year alone, the campaign reached an estimated 2.7 billion people in an effort to shine a spotlight on the burden of this condition.

Shire embraces the responsibility of championing underserved patient communities. In addition to their research initiatives, they work as an advocate for those with rare diseases throughout the world. One area of priority is Severe Congenital Protein C Deficiency (SCPCD), a rare, autosomal recessive disorder.1 The predicted prevalence of SCPCD is low, ranging from 1 in 40,000 to 250,000 people.2 Potential explanations for the low number of identified individuals include high fetal mortality, death before diagnosis, under-diagnosis and under-reporting.1,2

The symptoms of SCPCD are driven by a shift in the balance between pro-and anticoagulation factors that results in excess coagulation. This excess coagulation can cause thrombosis and subsequent presentation of symptoms.3

“As the global leader in rare diseases, we, at Shire, uniquely understand the challenging journey rare disease patients and their families face every day,” said Donatello Crocetta, Global Medical Affairs Head, Immunology, Shire. “We made a commitment to support World Thrombosis Day to advocate for awareness of SCPCD and encourage health care professionals around the world to learn more about diagnosing this rare condition using a rapid protein C test to save the lives of infants. It is critical to focus on diagnosis, because an accurate and timely diagnosis can be the key to a longer, healthier life – especially for an infant with a rare disease.”

One in four deaths worldwide is related to thrombosis, highlighting the urgent need for awareness and patient empowerment to ask for a risk assessment.4,5 With the tagline, Know Thrombosis, the campaign encourages the general public, healthcare professionals, and key decision makers to know and take action on the risk factors, signs, and symptoms of the condition.

“As we recognize the fifth anniversary of World Thrombosis Day, we are delighted to welcome Shire to the campaign as a Global Supporter,” said Gary Raskob, Ph.D., Chairman of the World Thrombosis Day Steering Committee. “Shire’s partnership is critical to our efforts in raising awareness of thrombosis as well as shinning a spotlight on the rare condition of venous thrombosis associated with SCPCD, which will ultimately save the lives of infants around the world.”

To learn more and support World Thrombosis Day, visit www.worldthrombosisday.org.

References:

  1. Goldenberg N, Manco-Johnson M. Protein C deficiency. Haemophilia. 2008;14(6):1214–1221.
  2. Chalmers E, et al. Purpura fulminans: recognition, diagnosis and management. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 2011;96(11):1066-1071.
  3. Goldenberg N, Manco-Johnson M. Protein C deficiency. Haemophilia. 2008;14(6):1214–1221.
  4. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, “Thrombosis: A Major Contributor to the Global Disease Burden.” www.worldthrombosisday.org/issue/global-burden-vte/
  5. World Health Organization (WHO), “65th World Health Assembly Closes with New Global Health Measures,” (2012). www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2012/wha65_closes_20120526/en/

About Shire
Shire is the global biotechnology leader serving patients with rare diseases and specialized conditions. We seek to push boundaries through discovering and delivering new possibilities for patient communities who often have few or no other champions. Relentlessly on the edge of what’s next, we are serial innovators with a diverse pipeline offering fresh thinking and new hope. Serving patients and partnering with healthcare communities in over 100 countries, we strive to be part of the entire patient journey to enable earlier diagnosis, raise standards of care, accelerate access to treatment, and support patients. Our diverse portfolio of therapeutic areas includes Immunology, Hematology, Genetic Diseases, Neuroscience, Internal Medicine and Ophthalmics.

Championing patients is our call to action – it brings the opportunity – and responsibility – to change people’s lives.

www.shire.com  www.scpcd.org

About World Thrombosis Day
Launched in 2014 and held annually on 13 October, World Thrombosis Day (WTD) aims to increase public, healthcare professional and health care systems’ awareness of thrombosis and, ultimately, to reduce deaths and disabilities from thromboembolic disease through a greater awareness of its causes, risk factors, signs and symptoms, and evidence-based prevention and treatment. WTD’s mission supports the World Health Assembly’s global target of reducing premature deaths by non-communicable disease by 25 percent by 2025, as well as the WHO global action plan for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in the 2013-2020 timeframe. Visit www.worldthrombosisday.org for more information and to get involved.

About the ISTH
Founded in 1969, the ISTH is the leading worldwide not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of thrombotic and bleeding disorders. ISTH is an international professional membership organization with more than 5,000 clinicians, researchers and educators working together to improve the lives of patients in more than 98 countries around the world. Among its highly regarded activities and initiatives are education and standardization programs, research activities, meetings and congresses, peer-reviewed publications, expert committees and World Thrombosis Day on 13 October. Visit ISTH online at www.isth.org.

 

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