JEDDAH, 21 May — A new and innovative medicine, which has been found highly effective in preventing blood clotting (venous thrombo-embolism — VTEs) during and after orthopedic surgeries, will be available in the Kingdom shortly, the promoters of the drug have told Arab News.
Professor Abdul Kareem Al-Momen, head of the hematology-oncology department at King Saud University, described Arixtra, the new medication, as a major discovery which will make the lives of both doctors and patients much easier.
In a pre-launch presentation at Jeddah Hilton yesterday, Al-Momen said that he expected Arixtra would win considerable popularity in the Arab and Islamic world as the drug does not contain pork (as many other medications do).
“Arixtra provides 50 percent more efficacy in preventing deep venous thrombosis (DVTs) than the best known medications presently available,” said Dr. Muhammad Allam, medical director of Sanofi-Synthelabo, the French company, which produced the drug.
Allam added that DVT complications might lead to pulmonary embolism, which is very common and fatal.
“So it is significant that we prevent such DVTs from the very beginning before they put our life in danger,” he said.
Kamal M. Latif, general manager of the company, said his organization was in the process of registering Arixtra with the Saudi Health Ministry. However, he pointed out that the medicine is already available in some Saudi hospitals.
In his presentation, Al-Momen said DVTs are one of the main reasons for pulmonary embolism (blood clotting in lungs). The new medicine is distributed with a specially designed injection needle.
“Anybody can use it after consulting a doctor,” he said.
VTEs can occur in as many as 80 percent of the patients, depending on the type of surgery, Al-Momen said. “Thousands of such high-risk surgeries occur in the Kingdom and other countries every year,” he pointed out.
Dr. Allam said the medicine will help reduce the mortality rate, especially sudden deaths caused by pulmonary obstruction.
Sanofi-Synthelabo is currently pursuing the development of Arixtra to treat arterial thrombosis.
