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Presenting Vivaglobin®

Vivaglobin® is the first and only FDA-approved Sub-Q Ig therapy available for primary immunodeficiency patients.

It’s the Ig therapy that offers you greater freedom and flexibility in how you receive your therapy.

Because Vivaglobin® is the Ig therapy you administer to yourself, Vivaglobin® may allow you to:

  • Schedule Ig therapy in the comfort of your home, on your schedule1
  • Take your Ig therapy with you when you travel on business or vacation1
  • Potentially reduce the number of visits you make to your doctor’s office
  • Eliminate visits to infusion clinics

Vivaglobin® Ig therapy helps you maintain consistent protection against infections because weekly Sub-Q Ig therapy maintains consistent Ig levels in your blood.1-3

The history of Vivaglobin®

1952, Washington, DC
In 1952, a Washington, DC, doctor named Ogden C. Bruton used Ig therapy for the first time to treat a patient. The patient is forever known in the medical community as “Bruton’s Boy.”1

Over a period of 4 years, this 8-year-old boy had numerous illnesses and was treated with a variety of medications with little success. Then, a blood analysis revealed he had low levels of antibody gammaglobulin. Dr. Bruton’s choice of treatment was immunoglobulin (Ig) delivered subcutaneously. The boy’s infections subsequently resolved.

In the years that followed intramuscular (IM) injections became the preferred method of administering Ig. IM injections can be painful because the medication needs to be injected deep into muscle tissue.

Fast forward 30 years
In 1981, the first commercially available intravenous (or through the vein) immunoglobulin (referred to as intravenous Ig or IVIg) appeared in the United States. It soon became the most widely used method of administering Ig therapy.

Vivaglobin® was approved by the FDA in January 2006 as the first and only subcutaneous Ig therapy, otherwise known as Sub-Q Ig. It has been introduced to the United States by
CSL Behring, one of the world’s leaders in researching and developing plasma-derived products. Vivaglobin® has been available in Europe for more than 10 years (marketed under another name) and has been used safely by thousands of patients.

Click here here to download a PDF of the brochure.

References:

  1. Nicolay U, Kiessling P, Berger M, et al. Health-related quality of life and treatment satisfaction in North American patients with primary immunedeficiency diseases receiving subcutaneous IgG self-infusions at home. J Clin Immunol. 2006;26:65-72.
  2. Ochs HD, Gupta S, Kiessling P, et al. Safety and efficacy of self-administered subcutaneous immunoglobulin in patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases. J Clin Immunol. 2006;26:265-273.
  3. Gardulf A, Nicolay U, Asensio O, et al. Rapid subcutaneous IgG replacement therapy is effective and safe in children and adults with primary immunodeficiencies-a prospective, multi-national study. J Clin Immunol. 2006;26:177-185.

Next: Benefits of Vivaglobin®