Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa receives new NICE recommendation

Boehringer Ingelheim's novel oral anticoagulant Pradaxa has received a new recommendation from the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The regulator has been endorsed as an option for treating and preventing recurrent and potentially fatal blood clots in the legs and lungs among adult patients, offering an alternative to warfarin.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) can both be fatal conditions, as well as leading to long-term illness, swelling and skin changes. People at high risk of blood clotting problems sometimes receive lifelong treatment with anticoagulants to prevent further episodes.

For many patients, using warfarin can be difficult because of the need for frequent tests to see if the blood is clotting properly and the necessity of subsequent dosage adjustments.

Professor Carole Longson, NICE's Health Technology Evaluation Centre director, said: "The appraisal committee felt that dabigatran represents a potential benefit for many people who have had a DVT or PE, particularly those who have risk factors for recurrence of a blood clot and who therefore need longer-term treatment."

Pradaxa has been approved in more than 100 countries and has accrued more than two million patient-years of experience in all licensed indications globally.