EINSTEIN-DVT is the fifth Phase III trial in the ongoing rivaroxaban global development programme in which the drug demonstrated either non-inferiority when compared to current anticoagulation therapies.
Traditional treatment for DVT patients involves the combination of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and warfarin, introduced over half a century ago. Professor Sam Machin, consultant haematologist at the University College London, welcomes a solution that would be oral, rather than a combination of the two different therapies.
“If I could design a DVT treatment it would be oral, once-daily, have reduced drug and food interactions, and require no blood test monitoring. The results from this study are promising as there is now the potential for a single-drug approach rather than the current treatment. This condition affects around 60,000 people in the UK each year, who could potentially benefit from this new development.”
Patients with acute proximal symptomatic DVT received either oral rivaroxaban or LMWH enoxaparin followed by a vitamin K antagonist (VKA) of either warfarin or acenocoumarol, dose adjusted to maintain a therapeutic International Normalised Ratio (INR) for 3, 6 or 12 months.
