NICE is recommending Daiichi Sankyo’s new blood thinner Lixiana as a treatment to help patients with a heart flutter who have an increased risk of stroke.
Specifically, in draft guidance NICE is minded to recommend Lixiana (edoxaban) as an option for preventing stroke and systemic embolism in adults with non-valvular atrial fibrillation with one or more risk factors, including:
• congestive heart failure
• hypertension
• diabetes
• prior stroke or transient ischaemic attack
• age 75 years or older.
Dr Simon Clough, UK managing director for Daiichi Sankyo, said: “We are very pleased to be able to offer patients and doctors in England and Wales a new convenient to use alternative in the treatment armoury against AF-related illness. It is extremely gratifying that we have received NICE FADs for both AF and VTE within a very short time after gaining European authorisation.”
Dr Clough added: “NICE has recognised an unmet clinical need among patients with AF and this recommendation confirms the value of edoxaban, which combines convenience and safety with features compared to warfarin that patients and physicians appreciate.”
This makes the drug the fourth in a class of blood-thinning drugs known as Novel Oral Anti-Coagulants (NOACs) to be recommended by the Institute.
The first OAC, which was approved more than 50 years ago, is the generic warfarin, but in recent years a spate of new drugs has come onto the market for AF patients.
These include Bayer/Janssen’s Xarelto (rivaroxaban); Boehringer’s Pradaxa (dabigatran); and Pfizer/BMS’s Eliquis (apixaban).
Non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) is a condition where the heart beats irregularly meaning blood can pool and thicken in the chambers of the heart, causing a risk of clots which then go on to cause strokes.
The drug costs £58.80 for a 28-tablet pack (60 mg or 30 mg) and the daily cost of treatment is £2.10.
NICE has already recommended Lixiana for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, and prevention of recurrent DVT and PE in adults.