ACC 2021: J&J, Bayer pad case for Xarelto in post-surgery artery disease patients

With an approval filing already on the FDA’s docket, Bayer and Johnson & Johnson are padding their case for launching legacy blood thinner Xarelto in artery disease patients after surgery.

In long-term data from its pivotal trial in peripheral artery disease, Xarelto plus aspirin cut the risk of a variety of clot-related episodes—acute clots in the limbs, a major amputation for vascular reasons, heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death—by 14% compared with aspirin alone in patients who'd had surgery to unblock the arteries in their legs, J&J said Sunday at the American College of Cardiology's virtual scientific sessions.