Pfizer, BMS drug more effective than warfarin in AF patients

NEW YORK — A drug made by Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb undergoing late-stage clinical trials was more effective than the generic drug warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation, according to study results released Sunday.

The phase-3 "ARISTOTLE" trial of Eliquis (apixaban) showed that the drug reduced the risk of stroke and systemic embolism by 21%, major bleeding by 31% and death by 11% in AF patients. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was conducted at 1,034 centers in 39 countries and enrolled 18,201 patients.

"The risk for stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation is a major public health concern in an aging population," Duke University Medical Center professor of medicine and lead study investigator Christopher Granger said. "We are therefore encouraged by the outcome of the ARISTOTLE trial, which showed that apixaban, as compared with warfarin, significantly reduced the risk of stroke or systemic embolism, major bleeding and mortality."