Swedish Orphan Biovitrum and LFB Biomedicaments announced the launch of Willfact in Germany, a new product for treatment of the bleeding disorder von Willebrand disease. Swedish Orphan Biovitrum and LFB also announced the prolongation of the current distribution agreement through 2014.

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum will, under the agreement with LFB Biomedicaments, distribute Willfact in Germany, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. A Mutual Recognition Procedure is planned in the forthcoming months to secure marketing authorization in the majority of the other countries where Swedish Orphan Biovitrum has the right to distribute Willfact.

"The opportunity of making Willfact available to patients with von Willebrand disease in Germany and elsewhere will be a valuable contribution to improving the life of these patients. We look forward to a fruitful and continued partnership with LFB, as other products of value for rare diseases are also involved in this partnership and we see Willfact as an important addition to our emerging Hemophilia franchise," said Martin Nicklasson, CEO of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum Group.

"The know-how of Swedish Orphan Biovitrum in hospital care and therapeutic proteins marketing is a key asset in increasing the availability of our Willfact product to the patient community in the selected countries. LFB as a key European player in bleeding disorders will benefit from this partnership," said Pierre-Francois Falcou, senior International director of LFB Group.

Willfact is a very high purity plasma derived human von Willebrand factor (vWF) concentrate used to stop and prevent bleeding in severe von Willebrand disease (vWD) patients.

Von Willebrand Disease (vWD) is characterized by a deficiency in the protein von Willebrand Factor (vWF) that plays a role in primary hemostasis and stabilizes Factor VIII, an essential blood coagulation factor.

Swedish Orphan Biovitrum is a Swedish based specialty pharmaceutical company with an international market presence. The company is focused on providing and developing orphan and niche specialist pharmaceuticals to patients with high medical needs.

LFB Biomedicaments is part of LFB, a biopharmaceutical group that develops, manufactures and markets medicinal products for the treatment of serious and often rare diseases in several major therapeutic fields, namely Hemostasis, Immunology and Intensive Care.