Rivaroxaban clinical studies
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Ahmed Zaghw, M.D. [2]
14 CLINICAL STUDIES
14.1 Stroke Prevention in Nonvalvular Atrial Fibrillation The evidence for the efficacy and safety of XARELTO was derived from ROCKET AF, a multi-national, double-blind study comparing XARELTO (at a dose of 20 mg once daily with the evening meal in patients with CrCl >50 mL/min and 15 mg once daily with the evening meal in patients with CrCl 30 to <50 mL/min) to warfarin (titrated to INR 2.0 to 3.0) to reduce the risk of stroke and non-central nervous system (CNS) systemic embolism in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF). Patients had to have one or more of the following additional risk factors for stroke:
•a prior stroke (ischemic or unknown type), transient ischemic attack (TIA) or non‑CNS systemic embolism, or •2 or more of the following risk factors: ◦age ≥75 years, ◦hypertension, ◦heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction ≤35%, or ◦diabetes mellitus ROCKET AF was a non-inferiority study designed to demonstrate that XARELTO preserved more than 50% of warfarin's effect on stroke and non-CNS systemic embolism as established by previous placebo-controlled studies of warfarin in atrial fibrillation.
A total of 14264 patients were randomized and followed on study treatment for a median of 590 days. The mean age was 71 years and the mean CHADS2 score was 3.5. The population was 60% male, 83% Caucasian, 13% Asian and 1.3% Black. There was a history of stroke, TIA, or non-CNS systemic embolism in 55% of patients, and 38% of patients had not taken a vitamin K antagonist (VKA) within 6 weeks at time of screening. Concomitant diseases of patients in this study included hypertension 91%, diabetes 40%, congestive heart failure 63%, and prior myocardial infarction 17%. At baseline, 37% of patients were on aspirin (almost exclusively at a dose of 100 mg or less) and few patients were on clopidogrel. Patients were enrolled in Eastern Europe (39%); North America (19%); Asia, Australia, and New Zealand (15%); Western Europe (15%); and Latin America (13%). Patients randomized to warfarin had a mean percentage of time in the INR target range of 2.0 to 3.0 of 55%, lower during the first few months of the study.
In ROCKET AF, XARELTO was demonstrated non-inferior to warfarin for the primary composite endpoint of time to first occurrence of stroke (any type) or non-CNS systemic embolism [HR (95% CI): 0.88 (0.74, 1.03)], but superiority to warfarin was not demonstrated. There is insufficient experience to determine how XARELTO and warfarin compare when warfarin therapy is well-controlled.
Table 9 displays the overall results for the primary composite endpoint and its components.[1]
References
Adapted from the FDA Package Insert.