Clinical study: Pfizer-Bristol anticoagulant more effective than competitior

NEW YORK A pill-based anticoagulant drug under development by Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb worked better in reducing the risk of internal blood clots in patients undergoing knee-replacement surgery than a competing drug by Sanofi-Aventis, according to a results of a late-stage clinical study published last week in The Lancet.

The phase 3 ADVANCE-2 study found that apixaban administered at 2.5-mg twice a day was more effective in reducing venous thromboembolism than Sanofi’s Lovenox (enoxaparin) administered once daily at 40 mg. Venous thromboembolism includes deep-vein thrombosis, a blood clot in a vein, and pulmonary embolism, a clot blocking a vessel in the lungs, and occurs in 40% to 60% of patients undergoing orthopedic surgery.

The study also had a smaller number of patients in the apixaban arm who had bleeding episodes, though the results were not statistically significant, Pfizer and Bristol said.