Bayer HealthCare’s Xarelto receives NICE backing for PE and DVT

Bayer HealthCare's novel anticoagulant Xarelto has been recommended for a new indication by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The regulator has issued final guidance endorsing the drug as an option for treating pulmonary embolism (PE), as well as for preventing recurrent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and PE among adults who have already been affected by acute PE.

Currently, people with these conditions are usually reliant on treatment with warfarin, which has a number of unwanted interactions with other therapies and also requires patients to adjust their diet and lifestyle.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the NICE Health Technology Evaluation Centre, said: "Rivaroxaban therefore represents a significant potential benefit for people with PE and DVT, because it avoids the need to begin treatment with heparin and the subsequent transition to warfarin."

This comes after the drug received a European approval for the use of Xarelto as a means of preventing atherothrombotic events after an acute coronary syndrome among adult patients with elevated cardiac biomarkers.