Boehringer Ingelheim is pleased to welcome the announcement by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) that following a full review, it has accepted idarucizumab for use within NHS Scotland.1
Idarucizumab is a specific reversal agent for dabigatran etexilate and is indicated in adult patients when rapid reversal of the anticoagulant effect is required for emergency surgery or urgent procedures or in life threatening or uncontrolled bleeding.2
Boehringer Ingelheim is pleased to welcome the announcement by the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) that following a full review, it has accepted idarucizumab for use within NHS Scotland.1
Idarucizumab is a specific reversal agent for dabigatran etexilate and is indicated in adult patients when rapid reversal of the anticoagulant effect is required for emergency surgery or urgent procedures or in life threatening or uncontrolled bleeding.2
The decision is set to provide an added layer of reassurance for Scottish doctors and patients alike as dabigatran etexilate becomes the first non vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC) to offer rapid reversal available in the rare event they should need it.
Welcoming the news, Professor Klaus Dugi, managing director and medical director, of Boehringer Ingelheim UK and Ireland said: “As a company we are committed to developing innovative new medicines for patients as we did when we introduced dabigatran etexilate in the UK five years ago.
“While we do not anticipate idarucizumab will need to be used often, the added confidence it brings is highly significant for everyone involved and we are pleased that the SMC advice reflects this.”
“The introduction of idarucizumab gives doctors in Scotland an important new treatment option for when speed of reversing a patient’s anticoagulant treatment really matters such as when a need for emergency surgery arises. For patients this means they have the reassurance that, if necessary, their treatment can be rapidly reversed – which is a first for any NOAC.”
References
- Scottish Medicines Consortium advice, Idarucizumab. https://www.scottishmedicines.org.uk/SMC_Advice/Advice/1178_16_idarucizumab_Praxbind/idarucizumab_Praxbind, last accessed 13 September 2016.
- Praxbind® Summary of Product Characteristics, Boehringer Ingelheim, 2015.
