Seunghwan Song: Hemlibra and the Science That Changed Hemophilia A Care
Seunghwan Song, Global Business Analyst, Chugai Pharmaceutical, shared Thomas Schinecker’s post on LinkedIn, adding:
“Their groundbreaking development of Hemlibra completely changed the treatment paradigm and continues to bring smiles to people living with hemophilia A.
A massive congratulations to the laureates on this well-deserved Lasker Award—it is incredibly inspiring to call them colleagues.”
Thomas Schinecker, CEO at Roche Group, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Some scientific breakthroughs begin with a question that sounds almost impossible: can an antibody take over the function of a missing clotting factor?
Three brilliant scientists at Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. – Kunihiro Hattori, Takehisa Kitazawa and Tomoyuki Igawa – asked exactly that.
Their answer was a bispecific antibody designed to mimic the function of factor VIII by bringing together two other clotting factors, IXa and X, in people with haemophilia A.
It was an unconventional idea.
And it changed the treatment paradigm.
I was once told that even the compound name ’emicizumab’ carries something personal.
‘Emi’ stands for smile, blessing or beauty.
A Chugai scientist involved in its development proposed the name, hoping the drug would bring a smile to every patient’s face.
He also named his daughter Emi, inspired by the meaning of the name.
A small but touching detail.
Today, this pioneering work has been recognised with one of science’s most prestigious honours, the The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation Award.
As a scientist, I particularly admire the combination of deep biological understanding, bold thinking and persistence behind this discovery.
This is what great science can do: challenge assumptions and open entirely new ways to treat disease.
My warmest congratulations to all three laureates. A truly remarkable achievement”
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