First launch for AstraZeneca's Exanta

AstraZeneca's anticoagulant Exanta (ximelagatran) has been launched in Germany, its first market worldwide, for the prevention of venous thromboembolic events in elective hip or knee replacement surgery (orthopedic surgery).

This follows the recent successful completion of the European Union's Mutual Recognition Procedure, for which France acted as the reference member state (Marketletter May 10, 2004).

Exanta is the first oral treatment in the new class of direct thrombin inhibitors and is under regulatory review in the European Union for the prevention of stroke and other thromboembolic complications associated with atrial fibrillation and the treatment of venous thromboembolism (Marketletters passim).