Bayer, J&J’s Xarelto Bests Warfarin in Key Study
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Johnson & Johnson and Bayer AG’s blood thinner Xarelto prevented strokes in patients with an erratic heartbeat better than standard therapy with warfarin in a study, without raising the risk of bleeding.
Patients taking Xarelto once a day were 21 percent less likely to suffer a stroke or embolism than those on warfarin, a 56-year-old medicine first used as rat poison, researchers said at the American Heart Association’s annual meeting in Chicago. A second analysis of the data using more stringent methods found Xarelto was equal to warfarin. Bleeding risk, a feared side effect of therapy, was similar.