LACHEN, Switzerland and HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 30, 2013) - Octapharma has been a leading corporate sponsor since 2009 of Save One Life, an international nonprofit organization that provides direct support to children and adults with bleeding disorders.
"Save One Life is a unique organization in that beneficiaries receive money directly from their sponsors, with only a small fraction of each sponsorship going toward the cost of administration," said Laureen A. Kelley, the founder and president. "Octapharma is truly a corporate role model, given their level of generosity toward our organization and interest in reaching the bleeding disorders community worldwide. Our hope is that through this type of shared leadership all people with bleeding disorders in the developing world will one day have the medical and economic resources necessary to live independent and productive lives."
Save One Life offers people the opportunity to directly support individuals with hemophilia in developing countries through personal sponsorships. In addition to the company's corporate sponsorship, Octapharma Chairman Wolfgang Marguerre personally sponsors 70 children with bleeding disorders in India, Nepal, Romania and the Philippines.
Hemophilia is a devastating inherited blood disorder that can be very painful, crippling and even deadly when untreated. In developing countries, it is extremely difficult for families to acquire the necessary medical care.
"We are very proud of our affiliation with Save One Life because it provides such a vital service to the bleeding disorders community," said Wolfgang Marguerre. "The organization has strong personal relationships with groups and people in developing countries, relationships that are not easy to establish and grow. They make a difference in patients' everyday lives."
Octapharma USA President Flemming Nielsen also personally sponsors ten children through Save One Life and has been impressed by its services.
"Save One Life acts as a humanitarian bridge to encourage individuals and families to give back to the rest of the world on a personal basis," said Nielsen. "The organization is more than just a charity; Save One Life is also a development tool that helps promote long-term care and non-governmental organization (NGO) capacity-building. We have a strong merging of interests because Octapharma has always been a strong believer in innovations that can improve patient outcomes and quality of life."
In addition to its 2013 Gold core services sponsorship, Octapharma was a Silver sponsor of Save One Life's Annual Spring Gala held May 23rd.
About the Octapharma Group
Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma AG is the world's largest independent human protein products manufacturer and has been committed to patient care and medical innovation for 30 years. With a broad and expanding pipeline, Octapharma's core business is the development, production, and sale of high quality human protein therapies from both human plasma and human cell-lines, including intravenous immunoglobulin and von Willebrand Factor/Coagulation Factor VIII Complex. Octapharma employs 5,000 people and has biopharmaceutical experience in 80 countries worldwide, including the United States, where Octapharma USA is located in Hoboken, New Jersey. Octapharma operates two state-of-the-art production sites licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), providing a high level of production flexibility. For more information, please visit www.octapharma.com, www.octaplasus.com, or www.wilateusa.com.