Cardiovascular

Cardiovascular

Anticoagulant drugs are used to prevent dangerous blood clots from forming.  They are commonly administered to patients undergoing certain surgical procedures or prescribed for people who are at risk of developing blood clots.  Regardless of the use of the anticoagulant drug, it can be difficult for physicians to manage the delicate balance of clot prevention and promoting bleeding.  It is well documented that bleeding associated with the use of anticoagulants increases hospital costs and patient recovery time.  In Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) procedures alone, a study reported in JAMA (2010), showed that major bleeding associated with anticoagulant use, adds 4-6 hospital days to the average length of stay.  For the same procedure, Cardiovascular Business (2011) reported that major bleeding increases hospital costs by $6,000 - $8,000 with some facilities being as high as $13,000.

One way to reduce the risk of bleeding complications or manage the severity of bleeding associated with anticoagulant use, is to turn off the anticoagulant effect, thereby restoring the patients ability to form normal clots shortly after completion of the procedure.  Many anticoagulants exist and are in use today with relatively few antidotes or reversal agents available.

Recognizing the medical need to safely manage coagulation in certain procedures and to reduce the incidence of bleeding complications, PolyMedix has designed PMX-60056.