Bayer announces positive rivaroxaban trial results

Bayer’s novel oral anticoagulant rivaroxaban has yielded positive results during a phase III trial, the firm has announced.

The treatment was tested in 20 mg once-daily doses and was found to noticeably reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) when compared to a placebo.

Patients who have previously been treated for the occurrence of DVT or pulmonary embolism (PE) were involved in the trial.

Rivaroxaban showed an 82 per cent relative risk reduction in the recurrence of symptomatic VTE over patients treated with a placebo.

Kemal Malik, member of the board of management at Bayer, commented: “This is the fifth study in a row in a total of more than 13,500 patients, in which rivaroxaban has shown consistent benefit in reducing the risk of VTE in patients.”

Last week, Bayer was awarded the Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2009 prize, due to the efforts of its research and development team.