UK's Nice approves Pradaxa as treatment option
25 Sep 2008
The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has said Pradaxa is likely to be of equivalent cost-effectiveness to standard care options.
Pradaxa, marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim, is used for the prevention of venous thromboembolism and Nice has recommended it as a treatment option for patients who have undergone elective total hip or knee replacement surgery in the National Health Service.
According to Boehringer, Nice highlighted a potential reduction in administration costs associated with oral administration of the drug.
Eve Knight, chief executive of the charity AntiCoagulation Europe, expressed delight at the announcement from Nice.
She said: "Pradaxa, a once-daily oral therapy for use in post-orthopaedic surgery, will enable clinicians and patients to make decisions on choice of treatment appropriate to their clinical needs."
Meanwhile, Boehringer and Pfizer have suggested that new clinical trial results have demonstrated the safety of Spiriva in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
