Boehringer Ingelheim registry highlights need for better AF treatment

Boehringer Ingelheim has published one-year follow-up results from its global RE-LY atrial fibrillation (AF) registry, which has highlighted the pressing need for better standards of AF care worldwide.

Key findings from the study show that 11.7 per cent of AF patients included in the registry from January 2008 to April 2011 died within one year, with mortality rates shown to be much higher in Africa and Latin America than in the US and Europe.

Appropriate use of traditional oral anticoagulants was low, with wide variations between regions, while the potential flaws of established vitamin K antagonist therapies were also highlighted.

The registry analysis incorporated data from more than 15,000 patients in 47 countries and have helped to demonstrate the high unmet medical need and the large opportunities for improvement in terms of AF treatment.

Professor Klaus Dugi, corporate senior vice-president for medicine at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "Based on the RE-LY trial results and the great body of clinical experience, we are confident Pradaxa can and will play an important role in helping to close this treatment gap."

This comes after the firm published data from a recent study last week, showing the cost-effectiveness benefits its drug Pradaxa can offer in comparison to standard AF therapies.