Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation Partially Halts Phase 2 Trial Studying Dabigatran After Mechanical Valve Surgery

Despite the recent advent of novel oral anticoagulants, the much-maligned warfarin remains the only current option available for patients who have received a mechanical valve. Now the first trial to explore this indication for a newer oral anticoagulant has suffered a setback. Last year Boehringer Ingelheim announced the launch of the RE-ALIGN trial, a phase 2, open-label, 12-week randomized comparison of warfarin and dabigatran (Pradaxa) in 400 patients who received a mechanical valve. There were two arms in the trial. The first arm randomized patients during their initial hospital stay. The second arm randomized patients more than 3 months after their surgery. Now, following the advice of the trial’s Data Safety Monitoring Board, Boehringer Ingelheim said it had discontinued the first arm of the trial, the post-surgery arm, due to “lower than projected plasma levels of dabigatran in this population, and an imbalance in reports of thromboembolic events (primarily strokes).” The trial’s second arm with patients who received a valve more than 3 months before enrollment in the trial is unaffected by this decision and will continue as planned.

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