Pradaxa efficacy and cost effectiveness advantages over Xarelto

Indirect comparison based on the RE-LYtrial (for family owned German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim’s Pradaxa; dabigatran etexilate) and the Rocket AF trial (for German major Bayer’s [BAYN: DE] Xarelto; rivaroxaban) suggests advantages of Pradaxa in stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation, according to a Boehringer press statement.

In the absence of a head-to-head study, a comprehensive analysis published in Thrombosis and Hemostasis, looks into the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of Pradaxa for stroke prevention in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation in an indirect comparison to rivaroxaban. The analysis, based on two large scale trials including more than 32.000 patients combined, suggests that patients treated with Pradaxa may have lower rates of ischemic stroke and intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), and also accumulate lower costs from acute care and long-term follow-up over their lifetime than patients treated with rivaroxaban.1

The authors conducted a formal indirect treatment comparison between Pradaxa and rivaroxaban (according to the Markov model). The analysis has to be viewed in light of the absence of a head-to-head study. The current interest in health-economic aspects of new treatments may encourage further scientific assessments to confirm the findings. Boehringer Ingelheim says it would endorse and support further investigation.