Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa ‘offers benefits for DVT and PE’

Boehringer Ingelheim has reported data from a pair of clinical trials showing the safety and efficacy of its drug Pradaxa in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).

Results from the RE-MEDY and RE-SONATE trials showed that the drug was able to offer extended prevention of recurrence of venous thromboembolism after a first event, while also demonstrating a lower rate of bleeding incidents than warfarin.

This makes Pradaxa the only novel oral anticoagulant that has shown lower rates of clinically relevant bleeding versus warfarin among patients affected by these conditions.

Professor Sam Schulman of the haematology and thromboembolism division at McMaster University's department of medicine, said: "The new results from RE-MEDY and RE-SONATE suggest dabigatran is a good option to prevent deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism
from happening again after an initial event.

In December 2012, the company reported positive data from the clinical trial RE-LY, which demonstrated that Pradaxa is associated with better patient outcomes after a major bleeding event compared to warfarin.