Wolfgang Miesbach: How Does Protein S Inhibition Restore Hemostasis in von Willebrand Disease?
Wolfgang Miesbach, Professor of Medicine at Frankfurt University Hospital, shared a post on LinkedIn about a recent article by Yumiko Sakurai, published in Blood:
“How Does Protein S Inhibition Restore Hemostasis in von Willebrand Disease?
At EAHAD2026, fascinating microfluidics data from Emory University shed light on VGA039’s mechanism in VWD.
The connection isn’t immediately obvious:
VWD stems from insufficient platelet adhesion due to low or dysfunctional VWF.
Protein S is a cofactor for activated protein C, regulating thrombin generation.
Findings from the Ex Vivo Model, The haemostasis-on-a-chip data demonstrated that VGA039:
- Significantly shortened bleeding times in VWD patient blood
- Accelerated platelet deposition (p<0.004)
- Enhanced fibrin accumulation (p<0.008)
- Restored haemostasis through dual inhibition of TFPI and aPC pathways
The Mechanistic Insight:
The answer lies at the microvascular level.
By neutralizing Protein S’s dual activities (cofactor for protein C and TFPI inhibitor), VGA039 allows enhanced local thrombin generation specifically at microvascular sites – precisely where VWF normally enables platelet adhesion and where most bleeding occurs in VWD patients.
Congratulations to Yumiko Sakurai and co-authors.”
Title: A protein S-targeting monoclonal antibody, VGA039, improves both primary and secondary hemostatic activity of von Willebrand disease patient blood in an ex vivo vascularized hemostasis-on-a-chip
Authors: Yumiko Sakurai, Megan Brown, Yongzhi Qiu, Elaissa Hardy, Tony Byun, Sandip Panicker, Wilbur Lam
Read the Full Article on Blood

Find more posts featuring Wolfgang Miesbach on Hemostasis Today.
-
Aug 13, 2026, 18:39Lukas Röthlisberger: Real-World Evidence on Effectiveness and Safety of Rivaroxaban in Children
-
Aug 13, 2026, 18:36Soner Yilmaz: Blood Safety in Türkiye Through More Than 22.5 Million Blood Donations
-
Aug 13, 2026, 18:31Muthukumarasamy Raja: FDA Approval of EZPLAZ Marks a Breakthrough in Emergency Plasma Care
-
Aug 13, 2026, 18:29Peter Zdziarski: Protecting Our Community While Creating a Future Where We Are No Longer Needed
-
Aug 13, 2026, 18:29Morgan E Amos: Thrilled to Receive the Student Research Award From HTRS
-
Aug 13, 2026, 16:38Sheharyar Raza: Plasma Exchange in Multiple Sclerosis
-
Aug 13, 2026, 16:31Juan Manuel Cisneros Carrasco: The True Cost of Blood Donation
-
Aug 13, 2026, 16:25Connie Montgomery: Bridging the Gap Between Patients, Culture and Clinical Trials
-
Aug 13, 2026, 16:16Isabella Presch: A New AI Approach to Protein Engineering