the invention provides a method of treating a subject with a bleeding disorder by administering a pharmaceutical preparation containing concentrated fixa , which does not contain detectable pka activity . surprisingly , the fixa initiates clotting in a subject without endogenous fviii or with an endogenous form of fviii that is inactive . to make the factor ixa concentrate , the starting material can be recombinantly - produced factor ix , as provided in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 770 , 999 , which is herein incorporated by reference . briefly , recombinant factor ix at 114 μg / ml ( 2 μm ) is incubated at 37 ° c . with 2 . 4 μg per ml ( 30 nm ) factor buffered saline at 7 . 4 that contains 5 mm cacl 2 . this reaction is allowed to digest at 37 ° c . for two hours . alternatively , recombinant factor ix at 114 μg / ml ( 2 μm ) is incubated with both factor viia and tissue factor at 1 μg per ml ( 20 nm ) at 37 ° c . in tris buffered saline that contains 5 mm ca 2 + and 1 mm phospholipid vesicles . this reaction is allowed to digest for two hours . both reaction conditions are adapted from zhong et al , proc natl acad sci usa . 1994 apr . 26 ; 91 ( 9 ): 3574 - 8 . furthermore , in both activation reactions an aliquot is removed , added to an equal volume of 2 × reducing sds - page sample buffer and resolved on 10 % polyacrylamide gels to ensure that factor ix is converted quantitatively to factor ixa . the preparation of activated factor ix is diluted into heparinized citrate saline in individual aliquots that are suitable for administration to a mammalian subject . if desired , the catalysts , factor xia or tf / factor viia could be removed by selectively purifying factor ixa using an anti - fix : mg ( ii ) igg - sepharose 4b column ( 1 mg of igg / ml of gel ) as described in wojcik et al , biochem . j . ( 1997 ) 323 ( 629 - 636 ). bound fixa is eluted from the column by a buffer containing 50 mm tris edta acetate ( ph 7 . 5 ), 150 mm nacl , 10 mm benzamidine and 10 mm edta . the eluted factor ixa is subsequently dialyzed into a buffer containing heparinized citrate saline and aliquoted into concentrations suitable for administration to a mammalian subject . to make the factor ixa concentrate , the starting material can also be cohn plasma fraction iv - 1 precipitate . the precipitate is dissolved in saline to a concentration of 10 % weight / volume at about 20 ° c . and then partially purified by adsorption onto tribasic calcium phosphate , as described in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 560 , 475 . the tribasic calcium phosphate eluant is further purified and concentrated by polyethylene glycol ( peg ) precipitation as discussed in u . s . pat . no . 3 , 560 , 475 . the resulting precipitate is dissolved in a 0 . 2 m sodium citrate solution and adjusted for ph as described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 286 , 056 . silica at a concentration of 0 . 5 mg / ml is used to activate factor xi to factor xia . factor xi is a constituent of fraction iv . 1 pastes . factor xia activates factor ix in the paste to factor ixa . the bulk solution containing activated factor ixa is then purified further and concentrated on a q - sepharose resin . the flow through is discarded and the bound proteins are eluted using a sodium citrate solution with a gradient of increasing nacl concentration . appropriate tests of the eluant fractions are then performed . the fractions containing the highest concentration of factor ixa are pooled . this q - sepharose fraction is enriched for factor ixa and devoid of pka activity . the invention was made after a biochemical characterization of an apcc , autoplex - t , revealed that it contains unexpectedly a high concentration of activated factor ix ( 20 - 50 μg per ml ). furthermore , the concentration of activated factor ix correlates with the factor eight correction unit activity ( fecu ) of autoplex - t ( fig2 ). the fecu activity assay measures how quickly an autoplex preparation clots factor viii deficient plasma ( described in u . s . pat . no . 4 , 286 , 056 ). this assay is used to assign the potency of the autoplex - t product , as it is thought to mimic the clinical utility of autoplex - t : namely the ability to bypass the requirement for factor viii in clotting . fig2 and 3 demonstrate that in multiple manufacturing lots of autoplex - t , factor ix is activated to factor ixa . the correlation between the factor ixa content of autoplex and fecu activity indicates that factor ixa could be the active pharmaceutical ingredient of autoplex . fig4 demonstrates that purified factor ixa corrects the clotting time of factor viii deficient plasma in a dose - dependent fashion , consistent with this notion . to evaluate this hypothesis , we prepared a more purified preparation of factor ixa from autoplex - t using an anion exchange chromatographic step : q - sepharose ( fig5 a and 5b ). we then compared the biological efficacy of this preparation using a bleeding study in mice deficient for the fviii −/− gene . the results ( tables 3 and 4 ) show that the purified factor ixa preparation is able to rescue the bleeding phenotype of these hemophiliac mice . autoplex - t contains significant amounts of prekallikrein activity , due the presence of βfxiia , a proteolytic fragment of factor xii . pka activity is a labeled undesirable attribute of autoplex - t , as it is associated with significant clinical symptoms , such as pain and hypotension . an additional utility of the invention is that purification of factor ixa on the q - sepharose column substantially removes pka activity from the preparation ( table 1 ). the following examples refer to the initial isolation of such a preparation of factor ixa and the demonstration that it is effective in treating bleeding disorders . sufficient amount of fraction cohn fraction iv - 1 precipitate was suspended in 0 . 9 % saline to make a 10 % solution w / v . manufactured in typical fashion as described in u . s . pat . nos . 3 , 560 , 475 and 4 , 286 , 056 . the ph was adjusted to 7 . 2 with 1n sodium hydroxide , creating sediment . after centrifugation , calcium phosphate was added to the supernatant . the solution was mixed and centrifuged to recover the calcium phosphate — adsorbed precipitate . the precipitate was resuspended in 0 . 1 m sodium citrate with a volume equal to 4 % of the suspended iv - 1 paste volume . the suspension was centrifuged and the supernatant , containing the coagulation factors , was recovered . this supernatant was adjusted to with 0 . 5 g / l silica for the time determined to reach a factor xia level of about 0 . 02 u / ml as measured by the s - 2222 peptide based chromogenic assay with an aliquot described above . the activation was terminated by filtration of the mixture through a 1 . 5 micron filter . the product from example ii was purified further by polyethylene glycol ( peg ) precipitation . first , the solution was brought to 5 % w / v peg by the addition of peg solid with an average molecular weight of 4000 . the suspension was centrifuged , the ph of the supernatant was adjusted to 5 . 2 with 1n hydrochloric acid , then brought to a 20 % w / v solution of peg by the addition of additional peg solid . this suspension was centrifuged , the precipitate dissolved in a 0 . 02 m sodium citrate solution containing 0 . 72 % sodium chloride and 1 . 5 units heparin / ml ( hereafter referred to as heparinized citrated saline ), and the ph adjusted to 7 . 0 . the potency of this material was determined to be 23 fecu units per ml . in the fecu assay , one unit of fecu is defined as that quantity of activated prothrombin complex diluted 1 : 20 which , upon addition to an equal volume of factor viii deficient or fviii - inhibitor - containing plasma , will correct the clotting time ( ellagic acid — activated partial thromboplastin time ) to 35 seconds ( normal ). a sterile column was packed with q - sepharose fast flow ™ ( amersham biosciences ). the column was equilibrated with sterile heparinized citrated saline , containing 0 . 025 m nacl . after application of the product from example iii , the column was washed with the same buffer . factor ixa was eluted with heparinized citrated saline containing increasing amounts of nacl from 0 . 025 to 0 . 25 m . samples were taken at intervals during the elution and those with the highest concentration of factor ixa , as determined by immunoblot were pooled . this pool was then subsequently diluted in heparinized citrated saline , ph 7 . 0 to control for the increase in concentration during the chromatography . ( small aliquots of the bulk were diluted with heparinized citrated saline and tested for factor viii correction activity to determine what dilution would bring the potency levels down to 23 fecu / ml ( potency of the starting material ). the amount of activated factor ixa in the preparation was determined by immunoblot ( fig4 b ) and shown to be similar to an autoplex - t preparation . kallikrein ( plasma kallikrein ) is an enzyme that is involved in converting kininogen into kinins , which in turn may promote hypotension and associated undesired symptoms in a patient . prekallikrein activator ( pka ) is an enzyme that converts prekallikrein to kallikrein . the cber reference used as a standard for the pka assay lists beta - factor xiia as a component of pka ( cber laboratory of standards and testing dmpq / cber / fda product informatiom circular for reference prekallikrein activator ( pka ) lot # 3 , date printed mar 31 , 1999 ). prekallikrein activator ( pka ) concentration was measured in autoplex - t and in the purified fixa preparation using a chromogenic assay ( tankersley et al ; blood , 62 ( 2 ): 448 =- 456 , 1983 ). table 1 shows that the pka activity is removed from the preparation by introduction of the q - sepharose step . the pka activity is presented as a percentage of the center for biologics evaluation and research standard ( cber ). the results indicate that the majority of the pka activity in the starting material is not recovered in the q - sepharose eluate . the following describes the experimental protocol that evaluates bleeding and clotting in fviii −/− mice . aliquots of test samples were frozen to − 70 degrees c . in heparinized citrate saline , and used upon rapid thawing . groups of five fviii −/− mice were injected with increasing doses of either factor ixa or anti - inhibitor coagulant complex , autoplex - t . the factor ixa groups were injected with the following doses of activated factor ix 0 . 002 μg / g , 0 . 01 μg / g , 0 . 02 μg / g , 0 . 13 μg / g , or 0 . 26 μg / g . the autoplex - t groups were injected with 0 . 01 fecu / g , 0 . 075 fecu / g , or 0 . 150 fecu / g as a positive control . five fviii −/− mice were injected with sterile heparinized citrated saline . following a 30 - minute incubation period for all mice , a lateral tail vein bleeding study was performed . specifically , an incision was made on the lateral tail vein and the amount of blood that was discharged was collected during a thirty - minute period . at the end of this period the wound was cauterized to prevent lethality due to excessive blood loss . in addition , an incision was made to a group of 14 fviii −/− mice without any treatment and the amount of blood that was collected at specific time points was measured . the evaluation of the hemostatic efficacy of these preparations would be best evaluated by measuring mouse lethality due to bleeding . methods that measure hemostasis by recording blood loss within in a given time period are beset by a high variation in bleeding rates from mouse to mouse , as the results in table 3 demonstrate . however , to avoid unnecessary mouse lethality , we designed the assay to look for clear evidence of hemostasis in individual mice treated with these preparations , with the understanding that not every mouse in each treated group would stop bleeding within the thirty minutes time frame that blood loss was recorded . table 3 amount of blood volume lost and hemoglobin concentrations in fviii −/− mice amt of blood mouse # genotype time elapsed product used conc . loss hemoglobin 14 ′ 35 hemophilic 5 min none n / a 340 μl 14 . 2 g / dl 14 ′ 37 hemophilic 5 min none n / a 200 μl 14 . 7 g / dl 14 ′ 39 hemophilic 5 min none n / a 400 μl 14 . 7 g / dl 14 ′ 50 hemophilic 5 min none n / a 80 μl 9 . 8 g / dl 14 ′ 51 hemophilic 5 min none n / a 78 μl 10 . 3 g / dl 14 ′ 53 hemophilic 5 min none n / a 80 μl 10 . 2 g / dl 12 ′ 10 hemophilic 15 min none n / a 300 μl 14 . 5 g / dl 14 ′ 5 hemophilic 15 min none n / a 100 μl 12 . 2 g / dl 14 ′ 55 hemophilic 15 min none n / a 125 μl 13 . 6 g / dl 12 ′ 7 hemophilic 30 min none n / a 100 μl 13 . 2 g / dl 12 ′ 6 hemophilic 30 min none n / a 65 μl 7 . 6 g / dl 12 ′ 9 hemophilic 30 min none n / a 75 μl 8 . 7 g / dl 14 ′ 11 hemophilic 30 min none n / a 350 μl 17 . 6 g / dl 14 ′ 14 hemophilic 30 min none n / a 250 μl 17 . 8 g / dl as can be seen from the results of table 3 , factor viii deficient mice bleed when an incision is made in their tails . the amount of blood collected from each mouse is variable and ranges from 65 μl to 400 μl . in contrast to the hemophiliac mice of table 3 , when a lateral tail vein bleed is performed on wild type mice as shown in table 4 they are able to form a clot as indicated by the low volume of blood collected ( 0 to 80 μls ). factor ixa , at three of the lower dosages , was able to correct bleeding phenotype of specific fviii −/− mice . in four out of 15 mice at these three doses , the amount of blood lost was less than the lower range of 65 μls , and consistent with the amount of blood lost measured in the wild type animals ( 0 to 80 μls ). these instances provide clear evidence that bleeding has been stopped efficiently by the factor ixa preparation . similarly , for three out of 15 mice , autoplex - t was able to restore hemostasis to wild type levels . the technician who performed the studies also noted that a partial hemostatic plug had formed in those autoplex and factor ixa treated mice that did not show evidence of hemostasis by the blood loss assay . consequently , these results indicate that factor ixa has similar in vivo efficacy to the commercial product autoplex - t . interestingly , at two of the higher doses of factor ixa and the highest dose of autoplex - t , bleeding appeared to increase , consistent with these agents causing disseminated intra - vascular coagulation ( dic ). this is not surprising , as dic is a well - recognized complication of higher doses of bypassing therapies . these results provide clear evidence that factor ixa has biological efficacy in treating bleeding disorders : it reduced bleeding to wild type levels in specific mice and its spectrum of efficacy was comparable to the current commercial bypassing therapy autoplex - t . factor ixa is therapeutically active between 0 . 002 μg and 0 . 02 μg per g of body weight of treated mice . based upon these results factor ixa could be dosed in patients between 2 and 20 mg per kg of body weight . given the present disclosure , one of skill in the art will naturally think of additional embodiments of the invention , and the following claims are not intended to limit the scope of the invention .
the invention provides a method of treating bleeding disorders in a subject by administration of a preparation enriched for factor ixa . the factor ixa can be produced by proteolytically activating recombinantly - produced factor ix . the invention also provides an improved method for producing factor ixa from a plasma fraction , which method results in a factor ixa product containing little or no prekallikrein activity , thus reducing the incidence of undesired side effects in a subject .