Daiichi Sankyo receives NICE recommendation for Lixiana

Daiichi Sankyo's newly-launched oral anticoagulant Lixiana has been recommended by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

In new draft guidance, the regulator has endorsed the edoxaban tosylate therapy as an option for treating and preventing the recurrence of potentially fatal blood clots, with final guidance to follow in the coming months.

New oral anticoagulants such as Lixiana represent an alternative to warfarin as the standard of care for blood clot prevention. Using warfarin can be difficult due to the need for frequent assessments of efficacy and subsequent dose adjustments.

There are wide variations in the use of these newer therapies across the country, with local clinical leadership and policies playing an important role in this.

Professor Carole Longson, NICE's Health Technology Evaluation Centre director, said: "The committee concluded that patients value newer oral anticoagulants such as edoxaban tosylate, which cause less disruption to their day to day lives than warfarin."

Lixiana was approved in Europe last month for the prevention of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, as well as for protecting patients from recurrences of venous thromboembolism.