Bayer's Experimental Xarelto Matches Usual Therapy in Blocking Blood Clots
Patients taking the anti-clotting pill were as likely to develop serious and uncontrolled bleeding, a potential side effect of the medicine, as those on the standard therapy combination, Bayer said in a statement, citing results of a late-stage clinical trial. Xarelto beat the standard therapy on a measure that counted only clot prevention and the most serious bleeding.
Xarelto is one of Bayer’s most important experimental medicines, according to Barclays Capital analysts. The company will present results of the more than 3,400-person Einstein trial in deep vein thrombosis at the European Society of Cardiology meeting on Aug. 31. It expects results of a trial in more than 14,000 patients with atrial fibrillation, an erratic heartbeat that predisposes patients to strokes and early death, by the end of this year.
“It should be positive for sentiment, though the main focus will remain on the atrial fibrillation study, which has a much larger market segment and sales potential,” said Ulrich Huwald, a Hamburg-based analyst for MM Warburg Investment Research, in a telephone interview. He recommends buying Bayer shares.
Seeking Approval
Bayer, based in Leverkusen, Germany, has said it will request regulatory approval for Xarelto for both deep vein thrombosis and atrial fibrillation by the end of the year.
Bayer may find it difficult to prove that Xarelto is as effective as Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH’s Pradaxa at preventing strokes in atrial fibrillation patients, Barclays Capital analysts wrote in a note on July 30. Such patients would account for $8.4 billion in potential annual sales, making them the biggest part of the anti-clot drug market, Barclays said.
The Barclays analysts estimated Xarelto sales of 340 million euros ($446.8 million) in 2015 if the drug fails commercially in atrial fibrillation patients.