Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development has announced that rivaroxaban significantly reduced risk of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation during a Phase III trial.
The company added that the drug also demonstrated safety comparable to warfarin.
The study enrolled more than 14,000 patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation who were at risk for stroke and non-CNS systemic embolism and compared oral, once-daily rivaroxaban with dose-adjusted warfarin .
It found that rivaroxaban was superior to warfarin for the primary efficacy endpoint, demonstrating a 21% relative risk reduction for stroke and non-CNS systemic embolism.
In addition, patients who were treated with rivaroxaban had fewer myocardial infarctions (0.9% versus 1.1%) and reduced rates of all-cause mortality (1.9% versus 2.2%).
