New blood thinners from Boehringer Ingelheim and Johnson & Johnson showed promising results in clinical studies presented today at a big meeting of hematologists.
Both drugs represent attempts to replace warfarin, the decades-old drug based on rat poison. While effective, warfarin is difficult for doctors to use because it interacts with all sorts of other drugs and foods. An easier-to-use replacement could reap billions of dollars in annual sales.
Both studies looked at complications of blood clots in the veins, which can be fatal if they travel to the lungs. One study found that Boehringer’s drug dabigatran was as effective as warfarin at preventing complications of these clots with fewer serious bleeding side effects. The Boehringer drug did appear to have one annoying side-effect--heartburn--that caused more patients taking the drug to drop out of the study. The results were also reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.More at Forbes
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