The injection beneath the skin of an older and cheaper form of anticoagulant heparin is as effective and safe as the newer and more expensive versions of the drug to treat blood clots, according to a study in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Heparin is usually administered intravenously to treat clots in the deep veins of the legs or in the lungs, and requires hospitalization because its effects are difficult to predict.
The newer versions of the drug, known as low-molecular-weight heparin, are administered under the skin with fixed-dose injections and don't require constant patient monitoring.
They include Sanofi-Aventis S.A.'s (SNY) best-selling drug Lovenox, Pfizer Inc's (PFE) Fragmin and Abbott Laboratories' (ABT) Clivarin, which is sold in Europe and parts of Asia.
Because they are easier to use, these drugs have been expanding their market share and have displaced conventional heparin.
Researchers at McMaster University and the Henderson Research Centre, Hamilton, Ontario, have found that conventional heparin, when injected under the skin of 345 patients they evaluated between 1998 and 2004, was comparable with low-molecular-weight heparin taken by 352 participants in the study and was equally suitable for treatment at home.
In addition, they estimated that drug costs for a six-day course of treatment with low-molecular-weight heparin would be $712, while conventional heparin would cost $37 - assuming both drugs are administered as in the study.
However, an accompanying editorial to the article noted more than one study that demonstrates efficacy of this new treatment is necessary before introducing any changes to established clinical practice.
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# posted by Network @ 9:29 PM
