Dabigatran

[Guest]

Soon you will be hearing about a new replacement for warfarin called dabigatran. The rumors are that it is not being tested for people with mechanical valves (just as ximelagatran was not) so don't get your hopes up on this.

 

[Guest]

From a conversation I had today with someone who writes forecasts for investment bankers about the medical field, I am changing my mind about a replacement for warfarin.

I now think that there will be many drugs that are very specifically targeted for many of the different conditions and problems that warfarin has. She told me of at least three new approaches to get around these problems that are in various stages of research. Some are still just a gleam in a bench researcher's eye but others are not all that far behind dabigatran.

Ideally these will be taken by mouth once a day and have no drug interactions and less potential for bleeding than warfarin. That seems to be the way that the research is headed.

The difference will make warfarin with its shotgun approach look like the dark ages. Instead of a sledge hammer like warfarin, you will have a smart bomb, so to speak. It is unlikely that any will be marketed before 2010 and maybe even 2015 but the questions are being asked and some are being answered. Remember that RCB has had his valves for 46 years, so 2010 is not that far away for the younger members.

 

[catwoman]

Al:

Thanks for the info.
I'm going to copy your posts to a nephew-in-law. He works with investments in the medical field. Because he often visits Medtronic, among other companies, perhaps he may have heard something. I'll ask him to keep his ears open.

 

[mitchner9g]

yes

yes

I had high hopes when I started reading about Exanta a while ago. Unfortunately it didn't seem to pass clinical trials, but like Al says, rest assured pharmas are working hard on drug discovery in this domain:

http://www.therubins.com/ideas/exanta.htm

 

[Karlynn]

Al - do you have your own undercover spy network? Thanks for the info. Very interesting.

 

[Guest]

Sorta. I've been doing this long enough that I have at least met most of the people who are publishing research in the field. At the dinners and receptions, I circulate a lot. As Yogi Berra once said, "You can hear a lot just by listening." I also get a lot of e-mail saying, I hear XYZ is developing a Factor 24 drug, do you know anything about it?"

Remember the old WW II slogan, "Loose lips sink ships"?

The ones that I do not answer are those that say, "I'll give you $XXXX if you will tell me what XYZ is doing with their Factor 24 drug."