There are millions of people that are at a higher than average risk for developing blood clot related problems, or worse, a stroke. These patients may be undergoing operations, such as a hip replacement, or have a predisposing heart problem, such as atrial fibrillation. The standard treatment for patients like this is a drug called warfarin (sold generically under the name Coumadin). Warfarin has been available for about 60 years and was originally derived from rat poison. Warfarin is effective, however, if a patient receives a dose of warfarin that is too high, the patient may experience an increase in bleeding. Further complicating matters, if a patient is concurrently taking other prescription drugs (antibiotics) then the potency of warfarin may vary.
Drugs that may replace or supplement warfarin are under development, including: apixaban (Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer), rivaroxaban (also known as Xarelto; Bayer Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson), and dabigatran (also known as Pradaxa; Boehringer Ingelheim). However, according to an article published online on November 19,2010, research was stopped on apixaban as patients taken apixaban had an increased incidence of bleeding.
Drugs such dabigatran and rivaroxaban have been more fortunate, recieving an FDA recommendation in September and November 2010 repectively. Dabigatran is a drug that helps prevent strokes in patients that are diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Rivaroxabanwill be used toreduce the risk of blood clots in patients undergoing knee or hip replacement surgery.
People ranging from pharmaceutical company executives and medical researchers to Wall Street analysts said that these new medications could revolutionize therapy for stroke prevention. Now that the FDA has approved these new drugs, it will be interesting to see if the estimates made by industry analysts, which stated that these products may generate upwards of $10 million dollars in annual sales, will prove to be accurate in the coming years.