The
Vitamin K antagonist
warfarin was the only oral
anticoagulant available for decades for the treatment of
thrombosis and prevention of
thromboembolism until Direct Oral
Anticoagulants (DOACs); a group of new oral
anticoagulants got approved in the last few years.
Direct thrombin inhibitor:
dabigatran and
factor Xa inhibitors:
apixaban,
rivaroxaban, and
edoxaban directly inhibit the coagulation cascade. DOACs have many advantages over
warfarin. However, the biggest drawback of DOACs has been the lack of specific antidotes to reverse the
anticoagulant effect in emergency situations.
Activated charcoal,
hemodialysis, and activated
Prothrombin Complex Concentrate (PCC) were amongst the nonspecific agents used in a DOAC associated
bleeding but with limited success.
Idarucizumab, the first novel
antidote against
direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran was approved by US FDA in October 2015. It comprehensively reversed
dabigatran-induced anticoagulation in a phase I study. A phase III trial on
Idarucizumab also complete reversal of
anticoagulant effect of
dabigatran.
Andexanet alfa (
PRT064445), a specific reversal agent against
factor Xa inhibitors, showed a complete reversal of
anticoagulant activity of
apixaban and
rivaroxaban within minutes after administration without adverse effects in two recently completed parallel phase III trials ANNEXA-A and ANNEXA-R respectively. It is currently being studied in ANNEXA-4, a phase IV study. Aripazine (PER-977), the third reversal agent, has shown promising activity against
dabigatran,
apixaban,
rivaroxaban, as well as subcutaneous
fondaparinux and
LMWH. This review article summarizes pharmacological characteristics of these novel antidotes, coagulation's tests affected, available clinical and preclinical data, and the need for phase III and IV studies.