Sanofi-aventis receives priority review for Lovenox

French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-aventis has been granted a priority review of its anticoagulant Lovenox by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The filing from the FDA grants Sanofi-aventis permission to pursue a review of a supplemental new drug application (sNDA) for use with Lovenox (enoxaparin sodium injection).

Marked as priority, it is hoped that the review of the new drug could lead to “significant improvement” on therapies currently available for the treatment of acute ST-segment elevation myocardinal infraction (STEMI).

As this review will focus on the use of the sNDA in the US, Sanofi-aventis has submitted further requests to trial the drug in European countries including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

The FDA filing follows a successful trial of Lovenox in 2006 by the American College of Cardiology, which saw 97 per cent of participants receive therapy within 30 minutes following lytic therapy.

As an acute form of heart attack STEMI occurs when an artery is blocked by a blood clot for a period of time long enough to cause damage to the heart muscle.

Lovenox is approved for use in 96 countries and as an antithrombotic low-molecular-weight heparin the chemical is used for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and thromboembolic disease.