Following repeated administration of factor VIII (FVIII), a significant number of hemophilia A patients develop antibodies (Abs), inhibiting the procoagulant activity of infused FVIII. We have designed an approach based on the blocking of the deleterious activity of these Abs by peptide decoys mimicking the anti-FVIII Ab epitopes. Here, the well characterized inhibitory monoclonal Ab ESH8 served as a model. Several phage peptide libraries were screened for specific binding to ESH8. Seven constrained dodecapeptide sequences were obtained. Six sequences carried the consensus motif, hydrophobic-(Y/F)GKTXL. This motif showed a certain similarity with the 2231 QVDFQKTMKV 2240 sequence of the C 2 domain. In the seventh sequence, YCNPSIGDKNCR, the residues GDKN are similar to the sequence 2267 DGHQ 2270 . Upon inspection of the C 2 domain crystallographic structure, the two stretches QVDFQKTMKV and DGHQ appeared close together in space and might constitute a discontinuous epitope. Corresponding synthetic peptides were able to inhibit the binding of ESH8 to FVIII in a specific and dose-dependent manner. Moreover, the ability of the selected peptides to neutralize the inhibitory activity of ESH8 was demonstrated in functional tests as well as in vivo in a murine model of hemophilia A. This study demonstrates the potential of this approach to neutralize the activity of potent inhibitory Abs.Coagulation defects attributed to the absence or dysfunction of blood coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) 1 are observed in 0.01-0.02% of the male population (1). This recessive X-linked bleeding disorder is known as hemophilia A. The adequate treatment of this disease relies on infusions of human FVIII concentrates. However, a serious treatment complication is the development of a humoral immune response to FVIII in ϳ25% of patients with hemophilia A. These antibodies (Abs), also called inhibitors, block the FVIII procoagulant activity and complicate seriously the medical care of the patients by precluding further FVIII injections (2). This immune response is not only polyclonal but also heterogeneous in its specificity (3). Nevertheless, epitope mapping studies have shown that inhibitors recognize restricted binding sites, predominantly on the A 2 , C 2 , and A 3 domains on the FVIII molecule (4). The incidence of inhibitor occurrence in hemophilia A patients is difficult to estimate and can vary from 18 to 28% (5). This variation can be the result of a number of parameters, which needs to be considered, including quantitative criteria of inhibitor dosages, the elapsed time from the first apparition, the origin, the viral inactivation procedure applied, the purity of the administered product, and, of course, the patient.A number of different therapeutic approaches have been developed to circumvent complications arising from inhibitors, such as the administration of porcine FVIII, which is less antigenic than its human counterpart (6), the administration of activated human FVII to bypass the intrinsic pathway (7), and the activation of ...