Perhaps, But Neither Eliquis Nor Xarelto Have Any Specific Reversal Agent To Stop An Acute Bleed Once It Starts; Only Pradaxa Does

 

(Posted by Tom Lamb at DrugInjuryWatch.com)

During the American Heart Association 2015 Scientific Sessions in Orlando, the pharmaceutical companies responsible for the relatively new blood thinner medicine Eliquis sought to distinguish their drug from Pradaxa, Xarelto, and Savaysa. All of these medicines are in the non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) class of drugs and are competing for market share among a growing patient population.

From this November 9, 2015 news report, “Antithrombotics Have Varied Risk of Causing Major Bleeds”, we get a summary of one such presentation about Eliquis being superior to Xarelto and Pradaxa, both of which were FDA-approved before Eliquis:

Clot-busting drugs work, but they sometimes cause dangerous major bleeding. Reporting at the American Heart Association 2015 Scientific Sessions in Orlando, FL, a team of drug company researchers offered results of a retrospective cohort study showing that apixaban (Eliquis/Bristol-Myers-Squibb/Pfizer) had a lower risk of bleeding….

Compared to warfarin patients, those on [Eliquis (apixaban)] had about half the risk (HR=0.53) of a major bleed. The research is presented in [“Abstract 18465: Real World Comparison of Major Bleeding Risk Among Non-valvular Atrial Fibrillation Patients Newly Initiated on Warfarin versus Apixaban 5mg BID, Dabigatran 150 mg BID, or Rivaroxaban 20 mg QD.”]

The findings are contrary to data presented [in “New Global Real-World Data from Atrial Fibrillation Studies Confirm the Safety Profile of XARELTO®”, a press release from Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.] on the safety of [Xarelto (rivaroxaban)] in 39,052 people with NVAF showed the rates and patterns of major bleeding in routine clinical practice were 2.89 per 100 person-years.

The differing research results for Eliquis and Xarelto mentioned in the final two paragraphs, above, mean that Eliquis may or may not cause fewer dangerous major bleeding events than Xarelto.

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But when it comes to there being a specific reversal agent to stop an acute bleed once it start, Eliquis and Xarelto (as well as Savaysa) share the dubious distinction of not currently having one that is FDA-approved for use. For more about this unfortunate and unsafe situation, see this recent article, “Still No Approved Reversal Agents Or Antidotes For Eliquis, Savaysa, And Xarelto To Stop Acute Bleeding”, which has this sub-headline:  None Available To Help Patients Who Undergo Emergency Surgery Or When There Is Life-Threatening Uncontrolled Bleeding.

Only Pradaxa has a so-called antidote at the present time. In more detail, On October 16, 2015 the FDA granted accelerated approval to Praxbind (idarucizumab) for use in patients who are taking the anticoagulant Pradaxa (dabigatran) during emergency situations when there is a need to reverse Pradaxa’s blood-thinning effects.

We are currently investigating personal injury and wrongful death cases involving major bleeding events that involve Eliquis, Savaysa, and Xarelto.

 

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