Clexane more effective than UFH in VTE

French drug major Sanofi-Aventis says that data from the PREVAIL trial indicate that a once-daily administration of Clexane/Lovenox (enoxaparin sodium injection) is more effective than a 5,000 IU, twice-daily dose of unfractionated heparin in preventing venous thromboembolism in acute ischemic stroke patients.

The results, which were published in the April 21 issue of The Lancet, showed that treatment lowered the composite risk of deep vein thrombosis and/or pulmonary embolism during treatment, in comparison with UFH (10.2% versus 18.1%), and that this was equivalent to a 43% reduction in the risk of VTE events.

The researchers also reported that the incidence of symptomatic intracranial and extracranial hemorrhage was small and that there was little difference between the two groups (1.3% vs 0.7%). The rate of gastointestinal bleeding was higher in the treatment group (0.8% vs 0%), but this was not associated with increased mortality, which was the same in both trial arms.