Halperin's study, called Sportif V, followed 3, 922 patients who were randomly given either warfarin or Exanta.
There are concerns about Exanta, mostly surrounding elevations in liver enzymes that occur with the drug.
Exanta won't reach the market for at least two years, but it clearly has blockbuster potential.
Additionally, while warfarin can take weeks to have an effect, Exanta starts working within an hour.
Coumadin takes weeks to start having an effect, but Exanta begins working in two hours, like heparin.
Few late-stage trials currently going on would justify replacing the heparins with Exanta.
One reason for the excitement about Exanta is that one dosage level seems to work equally well for most people.
More data on Exanta will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology next month in San Diego.
Among the 7, 329 patients in both studies, patients were less likely to die, have strokes or bleed if they were given Exanta.
's experimental pill, Exanta, will be a powerful tool for stroke prevention.
The data presented today show that Exanta works at least as well.
Since Exanta will be a prescription drug, however, the drug could end up being cheaper for the system but more expensive for individual patients.
All told, 1.6% of those taking Exanta, or 51 patients, had strokes or other events, compared with 1.4% of those taking warfarin, or 37 patients.
European studies unveiled at the American College of Cardiology meeting indicate that Exanta works at least as well as the current treatment, Coumadin, for preventing stroke.
One 80-year-old patient died after suffering liver problems that may have been caused by Exanta, but the culprit may have been bleeding caused by other drugs.
Years ago, serving as an FDA advisor, he led an effort on another FDA advisory panel that kept another potential warfarin replacement, Exanta, off the market.
Another possibility that has many doctors excited is Exanta, a new oral anticoagulant being developed by AstraZeneca (nyse: AZN - news - people ).
Now, AstraZeneca (nyse: AZN - news - people ) is in late-stage testing for an experimental pill called Exanta that could eventually replace warfarin.
Exanta didn't cause extra bleeding in the knee replacement study.
Sitting on the panel was Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic and a tough analyzer of drugs who later helped vote down both Bristol-Myers Squibb 's (nyse: BMY - news - people ) Vanlev and AstraZeneca 's (nyse: AZN - news - people ) Exanta.
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