VPRIV® (velaglucerase alfa) for injection is a prescription medication indicated for long-term enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) for patients with type 1 Gaucher disease.

How to Take VPRIV

Your VPRIV Infusion

VPRIV is a 60-minute infusion* taken once every other week under the supervision of a healthcare professional. "Infusion" means that it is administered intravenously—directly into the bloodstream. At first, your infusions will take place at an infusion center, which is a site of care that focuses specifically on medicines delivered intravenously. Your OnePath® Patient Support Manager can work with your insurance provider to help you find one nearest to you.

*Though the infusion is scheduled for 60 minutes, post-treatment monitoring may be required after infusion.

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My First Infusion video

Emily, a GD1 patient

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If your infusions are well tolerated, you may eventually be able to work with your doctor to arrange for your infusions to be taken at home. Talk to your doctor if this is something that you would want to plan for in your treatment journey. In these cases, a healthcare professional would come to your home to administer the VPRIV infusions for you. If your doctor has determined that home infusions are appropriate for you, don’t forget to discuss all relevant storage and handling instructions that may apply in a home infusion setting. Your OnePath® Patient Support Manager can work with your insurance provider to help you receive your VPRIV infusion.

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Finding the Right Infusion Setting

Aaron, a GD1 patient

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Speak with your doctor if you have any questions about VPRIV infusions, either prior to starting treatment or at any point along the way. If you’re not sure what to ask, you can check our VPRIV Discussion Guide for commonly asked questions and discussion topics that may be useful for you to consider during your appointments.

Infusion Support Resources

VPRIV is administered as an infusion, which means that it is injected directly into the bloodstream. At first, VPRIV is taken at an infusion center, which is a site of care that focuses specifically on medicines delivered intravenously. At the infusion center, VPRIV will be administered to you under the supervision of a healthcare professional. You can ask the healthcare professional any questions you might have about the infusion and they will be able to guide you.

Speak to your doctor about your treatment with VPRIV and ask them any questions you might have with our VPRIV Discussion Guide.

VPRIV is administered as a 60-minute infusion once every other week under the supervision of a healthcare professional. Though the infusion typically takes up to 60 minutes, you may need to stay longer for post-treatment monitoring.

Did you know:

  • PreppedAhead™ is a VPRIV support program for patients enrolled in OnePath®. Centers enrolled in this program are able to prep your treatment prior to your arrival, reducing your wait time before infusions. Click here to learn how you can save time with PreppedAhead™
  • If you are opted into OnePath®, Takeda Patient Support Managers are available to work with your insurance company to help you receive your VPRIV infusions. Are you traveling? Did you move? Do you have new insurance? Are you just trying to navigate your treatments with your schedule? Your dedicated OnePath® support team can help with these questions and more. Click here to learn more about Takeda’s OnePath® Patient Support program
important safety information <

Hypersensitivity reactions, including serious allergic reactions (anaphylaxis), have occurred. VPRIV should be administered under the supervision of a healthcare professional.

important safety information <

Hypersensitivity reactions, including serious allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) have occurred. VPRIV should be administered under the supervision of a healthcare professional. VPRIV is given every other week by intravenous infusion that typically takes up to 60 minutes. Appropriate medical support should be available when VPRIV is administered. The most serious side effects in patients treated with VPRIV were hypersensitivity reactions.

Hypersensitivity reactions were the most commonly observed side effects in patients treated with VPRIV in clinical studies. The most commonly observed symptoms of hypersensitivity reactions were: headache, dizziness, low blood pressure, high blood pressure, nausea, tiredness/weakness, and fever. Hypersensitivity reactions in the clinical trials include any event considered related to and occurring within up to 24 hours of VPRIV infusion, including one case of anaphylaxis. Generally the reactions were mild and, in patients not previously treated, occurred mostly during the first 6 months of treatment and tended to occur less frequently with time. After the drug was approved, additional hypersensitivity reactions of chest discomfort, difficulty breathing, itching and vomiting have been reported. In some cases, vomiting can be serious and require hospitalization and/or stopping the medication.

If anaphylactic or other acute reactions occur, your healthcare provider will immediately discontinue the infusion of VPRIV and initiate the appropriate medical treatment. A hypersensitivity reaction should be treated based on the severity of the reaction. Your healthcare provider may manage a reaction by slowing the infusion rate or treating with medicine such as antihistamines, fever-reducing agents and/or corticosteroids or possibly stopping the medication and then restarting with a longer infusion time. For patients who have had symptoms of hypersensitivity reaction to enzyme replacement therapy, the doctor may consider treating the patient with antihistamines and/or corticosteroids before an infusion to help prevent such a reaction from happening.

The most commonly reported side effects during clinical studies (in ≥10% of patients) were hypersensitivity reactions, headache, dizziness, abdominal pain, nausea, back pain, joint pain, increased time it takes for blood to clot, tiredness/weakness, and fever. In clinical studies, the overall frequency of side effects was generally higher in the patients not previously treated with ERT than in the patients who switched from imiglucerase to VPRIV.

Talk to your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to be pregnant, are breastfeeding, or plan to breastfeed.

The safety and efficacy profiles were similar in pediatric (ages 4 to 17) and adult patients. The safety of VPRIV has not been established in patients under 4 years of age. Side effects more commonly seen in pediatric patients compared to adult patients include (>10% difference): rash, increased time it takes for blood to clot, and fever.

The side effect profile in elderly patients was generally similar to that seen in pediatric and other adult patients. In general, dose selection for an elderly patient should be approached cautiously, considering other existing medical conditions.

As with all therapeutic proteins, there is a potential for developing antibodies to VPRIV. In clinical studies, 1 of 54 (2%) patients who had not previously been treated with ERT, who were then treated with VPRIV, developed antibodies. One additional patient developed antibodies to VPRIV during an extension study.  It is unknown if having antibodies to VPRIV is associated with a higher risk of infusion reactions. Patients with an immune response to other enzyme replacement therapies who are switching to VPRIV should continue to be monitored for antibodies to VPRIV.

For additional safety information, please click here for Full Prescribing Information and discuss with your doctor
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

For more information, contact Takeda at 1-877-TAKEDA-7 (1-877-825-3327), or by email at medinfous@takeda.com