Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer receive US Eliquis approval

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer have announced that their collaboratively developed anticoagulant Eliquis has achieved a key regulatory milestone in the US.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the drug for sale this week, with further details on the decision to be presented by the pharmaceutical companies in the coming days.

It comes after the therapy was approved in Japan for the prevention of ischaemic stroke and systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation last week, while the European Commission ratified the product for the same indication in November 2012.

Eliquis is the result of a worldwide development and commercialisation alliance that Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer entered into in 2007, combining the former company's expertise in cardiovascular drug creation with the latter's international scale and capabilities.

Data from phase III trials has also shown that the therapy is able to deliver a strong performance in the prevention of recurrent venous thromboembolism among patients who have already received treatment for this condition.