ISTH 2026 – what’s on the horizon for bleeding disorders?

ASHLEY FLETCHER

Ashley Fletcher is AHCDO Senior Research Fellow

The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) 2026 Congress was held in Paris, France, in July 2026 and brought together clinicians and researchers from around the world to discuss the latest developments in bleeding and clotting disorders.

For people living with bleeding disorders, an important message from the Congress was the continuing development of new treatments, with a focus not only on preventing bleeds but also on reducing treatment burden and improving quality of life.

NEW AND EMERGING TREATMENTS

Several new treatments for haemophilia and von Willebrand disease (VWD) are progressing through clinical trials.

For haemophilia, researchers continue to investigate treatments that work differently from traditional factor replacement and may offer less frequent or more convenient treatment. One interesting development is Inno8, an experimental oral treatment for haemophilia A which has completed Phase I trials with no problem.

There was also encouraging progress in VWD, including VGA039 and HMB-002. Both are being investigated in clinical trials that include Australian centres and represent new approaches to preventing bleeding.

Gene therapy remains an important area of research in haemophilia. As experience grows, there is increasing emphasis on long-term follow-up to understand how well these treatments continue to work and to monitor their safety. Newer approaches, including gene-editing technologies such as CRISPR, which finds a specific piece of altered genetic code inside your cells and can cut, fix, or turn off a disease-causing gene, are also being explored.

RARE BLEEDING DISORDERS

Rare bleeding disorders also received attention at ISTH 2026, including research into factor VII deficiency and Glanzmann thrombasthenia. Early clinical trial results for some new treatments are promising, although more research and longer follow-up are needed.

LOOKING BEYOND BLEED NUMBERS

Another important theme was how we measure whether treatment is successful. Preventing bleeds remains essential, but researchers are increasingly looking beyond bleed rates to outcomes such as quality of life, treatment burden and physical functioning.

This is becoming particularly important as newer treatments allow many people to experience very few, or even no, bleeds.

Overall, ISTH 2026 demonstrated how quickly treatment for bleeding disorders is changing. Many of the treatments discussed are still being tested and are not yet available for routine use, but they provide an encouraging glimpse of what treatment may look like in the future.

Ashley Fletcher was funded to attend ISTH 2026 by AHCDO supported by National Blood Authority funding.