Dear Hemophilia Community,

Summer is here. Many of you are likely looking forward to outdoor celebrations including summer camp, pool parties, family vacations, block parties and much more. Your team at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals also has some exciting things to celebrate and share with you this summer.

New Offerings
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals proudly celebrates the introduction of BayCuff™ and a 3000 IU (international unit) vial size of Kogenate^® FS, antihemophilic factor (recombinant). The BayCuff™ self-infusion training program will help patients and caregivers practice self-infusion and help develop confidence to make self-infusion more convenient. We are also proud to announce that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a 3000 IU vial size of Kogenate FS. The new vial size, now available, offers greater convenience for patients with hemophilia A who require a higher dose. To find out more about the 3000 IU vial size, visit www.KogenateFS.com/3000IU or contact your local Bayer Hematology Account Executive.

Welcome New Parents
The birth of a new child is also a time of celebration at Bayer HealthCare. Developed with the help of the Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Education Council for Hemophilia Nurses, Life’s Little Essentials is a program that provides new parents of children with hemophilia A practical resources and a network of support and encouragement. Find easy-to-access educational handouts and opportunities to Share Your Story with other new parents through the Life’s Little Essentials New Parents Network.

Find out more about programs and services from Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals in this issue of Kogenate Connections.

Enjoy a safe and fun summer!

Sincerely,


Paul Bedard
Vice President, General Manager
Hematology
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals

Supporting New Parents through Life's Little Essentials

A celebration of life through support for new parents of children with hemophilia A

Becoming a new parent is an exciting and special time that requires adjusting to life with a brand new baby. That is especially true for parents of children newly diagnosed with hemophilia A. Though the first few months can seem overwhelming, it is also a time to celebrate. New parents can take comfort that there is an entire hemophilia A community offering support throughout a child's life.

In the spirit of sharing and community, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals created Life's Little Essentials, a program designed to:

• Help educate parents about becoming caregivers to a child with hemophilia A
• Welcome each new parent and baby into the hemophilia A community; and
• Help ensure new parents know about the wonderful community that is eager to offer support on various levels

New parents can now find helpful resources at the New Parents Network and through a Life's Little Essentials Welcome Basket.

This welcome basket includes a sample of the materials below and a few new resources developed by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals with the help of its Education Council for Hemophilia Nurses.

Each new parent in the hemophilia community is eligible to receive a Life's Little Essentials Welcome Basket, which includes:

• A Living with Hemophilia^® Guidebook with essential parenting tips
• "Living with Hemophilia: Essentials for New Parents," a video explaining hemophilia basics
• A NoseBudd™ ice pack, designed by a hemophilia patient to treat nose bleeds
• Insulated bottle cooler, perfect for storing factor treatment
• Caring for Your Child with Hemophilia, a National Hemophilia Foundation publication for new parents

As part of the Life's Little Essentials program, there is a New Parents Network available that provides tips for parents new to hemophilia and a peer network for sharing concerns and questions with other parents of children with hemophilia. From new articles to interactive videos and user-generated content, this resource was developed with the help of other parents and the Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Education Council for Hemophilia Nurses.

Find out more about the resources available to you through Life's Little Essentials today!

Introducing the BayCuff™
self-infusion training program!

Learning to self-infuse with recombinant Factor VIII (FVIII) can be a complex process for patients and caregivers. In order to help patients and caregivers become more independent and confident in self-infusing factor treatment, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals developed the BayCuff™ self-infusion training program. The BayCuff™ program offers patients the chance to practice self-infusion before infusing into their own veins.

The BayCuff™ is designed to help patients and caregivers learn how to infuse. It can be worn either on the hand or on the arm and attaches with two Velcro^® straps. The cuff has a "window" that represents skin, with a tube that looks like a vein underneath that the user will practice injecting into. This "practice vein" is even filled with a red non-toxic, washable liquid that simulates blood. It will enable you to see the effect of a "flash-back" - a flash-back is when you're successful in accessing a vein. (Note that the practice vein liquid is for training only and not to be infused or ingested.) A protective plate that comes as part of your BayCuff™ has been designed to allow users to practice self-infusion and to keep the user from being hurt while doing so. BayCuff™ is designed so the user can practice as many times as they need until they feel confident enough to infuse their factor treatment.

Bayer Healthcare hopes that the BayCuff™ will help patients and caregivers to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence that will make self-infusion more simple.

For more information, contact your local Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) or contact your local Bayer Hematology Account Executive.

Meet the 2009 Bayer HealthCare Hemophilia Leadership Development Program Participants

Two members of the hemophilia community have been selected to participate in the Bayer HealthCare Hemophilia Leadership Development Program, designed to cultivate future leaders.

Dimitry Gershman and Seth Balkanyi will join the Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals team in Wayne, New Jersey this month to participate in an 8-week leadership program where they will learn valuable leadership and life-skills to prepare them as they enter the workforce.

"I am excited to have this opportunity," said Gershman. "This will give me the chance to help all of the people that I have met in the hemophilia community, and it will give me the chance to become a community leader."

During the program, the future leaders will participate in a variety of hands-on modules designed to sharpen leadership skills in real-world scenarios to enrich the hemophilia community, including a visit to the Bayer manufacturing facility in Berkeley, California; a meeting with healthcare public policy professionals; a visit with leaders at the National Hemophilia Foundation; an exploration of marketing and communications strategies; leadership training classes; and a personal challenge project.

"I hope to gain an understanding of how to intertwine corporate strategy and human need to create programs for the community that are valuable and enjoyable," said Balkanyi.

During the internship, Dimitry and Seth will gain firsthand knowledge of the complexities and challenges associated with manufacturing a recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII) product for the hemophilia community.

Click here for more information from Dimitry and Seth in the coming months.

Share Your Story

Have you found a job you love? Been accepted into trade school or college? Overcome a challenge? If you have a story you're proud of, we invite you to share it. Your story could inspire others.

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals is excited to announce a new Share Your Story initiative to gather success stories from young adults living with hemophilia.

The Share Your Story initiative encourages those living with hemophilia A to record and submit stories in an effort to share how they are living successfully in their daily lives. The stories will offer hope, inspiration and advice to other young adults living with hemophilia.

Find more information online, or contact your local Bayer HealthCare Hematology Account Executive.

Team Hemophilia Camps Out
This Summer

If you plan to attend camp this summer, you may get the chance to be a part of the 2009 Team Hemophilia program. With leadership from the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) and sponsorship by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Team Hemophilia will be visiting select summer camps across the country to provide teens with interactive education focused on healthy and active lifestyles. To find out if Team Hemophilia is visiting a summer camp in your area, please contact your local hemophilia camp director.

Ask An Expert - Jeff Kallberg, Physical Therapist and hemophilia A patient

Including exercise in your daily routine doesn't need to be complicated or expensive. While access to a health club or gym expands your options, it isn't necessary. Jeff Kallberg, a physical therapist with hemophilia A, is available this month to answer your questions online about exercising with hemophilia A while on a budget.

Stay Active Despite the Economy
Having lived through four decades of life with hemophilia, I've seen and experienced a positive change in philosophy about exercise and hemophilia. Exercise and physical activity were once controversial for those with hemophilia, and now it is encouraged. In fact, physical activity has become a common recommendation for people who have hemophilia. The National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) now includes "Exercise and maintain a healthy weight to protect your joints" in their National Prevention Program "Do The 5" campaign.

Remember that you need to check with your health care provider before starting an exercise program and results may vary.

Incorporating exercise into your daily routine doesn't need to be complicated or expensive. While access to a health club or gym expands your options, it isn't necessary. You can perform surprisingly intense and effective exercises at home without any special equipment. For example, go out and shoot hoops in the driveway on a warm evening, or take a long, brisk walk.

As a physical therapist, I often see how my clients benefit from participating in appropriate exercise programs and sports. However, I also see the consequences from bad choices, including improper exercises or sports that are too aggressive for an individual. Exercise, including sports, can be a great thing for all of us, whether you have hemophilia or not, if done appropriately.

There are always questions of how much exercise is safe, what types of exercises are safe, and what sports are safe. The answers to these questions really depend on individual skills, talents, preferences, physical condition, history of bleeding episodes, joint damage, response to treatment, support from your doctor's office, and more. Before my clients begin any physical activity, I often ask them to consider these key questions:

• Are you getting repeat injuries?
• Do you have pain during or after activity?
• Can you compete on an equal level with the competition?
• Can you participate consistently without injury/pain/bleeding?

Have you checked with your healthcare provider? The choice to begin exercise, sport or physical activity cannot be answered by a simple yes or no question. Neither can the answer be that one sport or activity is safe while another is not safe. It all depends on the individual, but physical activity can be incorporated into anyone's lifestyle despite hemophilia or limited resources.

About Jeff
Jeff is a unique individual with severe hemophilia A. Despite his bleeding disorder and because of it, he decided to become a physical therapist. Jeff is now in private practice at his own facility in Savage, Minnesota called ACCUA. Since becoming a physical therapist, he has also undergone a personal transformation. He once thought of himself as weak, out of shape and limited by his joint disease, but he now considers himself quite the opposite.