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New Anticlotting Drugs in the Works

by Brandon on Thu Sep 02, 2010 6:25 am
Sept. 1, 2010 (Stockholm, Sweden) -- Two experimental anticlotting drugs showed impressive results at preventing deadly blood clots, doctors say.

If approved, they will offer alternatives to the old standby, warfarin, which many people can't or won't take.

In one study of 5,600 patients who couldn't or wouldn't use warfarin, apixaban beat aspirin at preventing dangerous clots or strokes.

In the other study of more than 3,400 patients, the new pill Xarelto was as safe and effective as warfarin at dissolving potentially deadly blood clots in the legs and preventing new ones.

Both studies were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.

Apixaban cut the risk of stroke by more than half compared with aspirin, says researcher Stuart Connolly, MD, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

The rate of major bleeding, the key concern, was no higher among patients on apixaban, he says.

The late-stage phase III study was stopped early after apixaban's advantages became clear, Connolly tells WebMD.
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