Antidotes for the new oral anticoagulant drugs!

Abstract

The introduction of direct oral anticoagulant drugs has added a new dimension to the management of thrombotic and cardiovascular diseases. Although clinical useful, the use of these drugs has been associated with bleeding complications of varying magnitude. Until recently, there was no antidote available for the control of bleeding associated with DOAC's. Such traditional approaches as the use of blood products and mechanical methods have been used to control bleeding in past. Molecular approaches have resulted in the development of specific antidotes for the oral anti-Xa and anti-IIa drugs. Andexanet alfa is a molecularly modified recombinant human factor Xa which is developed as an antidote for rivaroxaban and apixaban. Praxbind is an antibody which neutralizes dabigatran. Both agents have approved by the FDA and the European Medicine Agency, while these two agents are valuable in the management of bleeding with DOAC's, their use is associated with various adverse responses. Since both agents are proteins, antibody generation and interactions with endogenous proteins may also contribute to some of the observed adverse effects. The clinical data on their use is rather limited and additional studies are warranted to optimize their use. A global antidote, Ciraparantag, (PER977) is also developed for the neutralization of DOAC's. Both the activated and non-activated forms of prothrombin complexes are reportedly effective as an antidote for DOAC's. Additional studies are needed to develop guidelines for the safe use of antidotes to minimize the observed complications with the use of antidotes.

Keywords

• antidotes
• oral anticoagulant drugs
• pharmacology