Suburban company launches first specialty generic drug

LAKE ZURICH — Health care company Fresenius Kabi USA said Tuesday it has introduced a new generic injection drug in the U.S. to treat hereditary angioedema.

Its icatibant injection is an FDA-approved, therapeutically equivalent to Firazyr, the company said. The drug is supplied as a 3-milliliter, prefilled, single-use syringe that is self-administered into the abdominal area. The injection is a cost-effective generic alternative for the treatment of hereditary angioedema, Fresenius Kabi said.

People with hereditary angioedema lack or have low levels of a certain protein, which causes blood vessels and capillaries in the body to become leaky and allow fluid to build up in the surrounding areas. This fluid buildup leads to swelling and pain. The disease effects about 1 in 50,000 people, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

“For people with HAE, an acute attack can occur anywhere, at any time and can be life-threatening,” said John Ducker, president and CEO of Fresenius Kabi USA.

In conjunction with this launch of the company's first specialty generic drug, Fresenius Kabi is launching KabiCare (kabicare.us), a comprehensive patient support program. KabiCare can help eligible patients access icatibant injection and remain compliant with their therapy by providing access to live case managers, co-pay assistance, self-injection training and pharmaceutical samples to bridge a patient's therapy in the event there is a delay in a patient's coverage, the company said.

Based in Germany with its U.S. headquarters in Lake Zurich, Fresenius Kabi is a global health care company that specializes in medicines and technologies for infusion, transfusion and clinical nutrition.