UK’s NICE backs another use for Bayer’s Xarelto

In draft guidance published today for consultation, the UK’s health costs watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended German pharma major Bayer’s (BAYN: DE) Xarelto (rivaroxaban) as an option for preventing blood clots in people who have had a heart attack as a result of a blockage or narrowing in one of the blood vessels in the heart.

Bayer’s Xarelto, which has already generated sales of around $1.7 billion in the 12 months to end June 2014, is licensed for the prevention of blood clots in adults who have an acute coronary syndrome severe enough to result in the release of cardiac biomarkers into the blood that show heart muscle has been damaged.

The draft guidance considers the use of rivaroxaban to prevent further blood clots in adults who have had a heart attack – either STEMI or NSTEMI. In unstable angina, damage to the heart is not severe enough to result in the release of biomarkers into the blood so this condition is not considered in the draft guidance. In 2009/10 there were 57,000 admissions for heart attacks in England, with 28,000 subsequent heart attacks.