Eliquis lowers stroke, major bleeding in older NVAF patients

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) said a real-world analysis of patients ages 65 and older with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) showed that Eliquis apixaban significantly reduced the risk of stroke and systemic embolism, and the risk of major bleeding, compared to warfarin. BMS spokesperson Rob Perry told BioCentury that the companies’ real-world analyses are intended to inform payer assessments but not to support regulatory submissions to expand indications “at the current time.”

The study evaluated 14,214 matched-pair patients receiving Eliquis or warfarin in an insurance claims database from Humana Inc. (NYSE:HUM). Compared to warfarin, Eliquis reduced the rates of stroke/systemic embolism by 35% (HR=0.65, p=0.001) and major bleeding by 47% (HR=0.53, p=0.001) compared to warfarin. Median follow-up was 6.3 months in Eliquis-treated patients, and 8.3 months in the warfarin group...