ELIQUIS better than warfarin in reduction of stroke, major bleeding, and mortality

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) today announced the main results of the Phase 3 clinical trial ARISTOTLE, which evaluated ELIQUIS^® (apixaban) compared to warfarin for the prevention of stroke or systemic embolism in 18,201 patients with atrial fibrillation and at least one risk factor for stroke. In the ARISTOTLE trial, ELIQUIS as compared with warfarin significantly reduced the risk of stroke or systemic embolism by 21 percent, major bleeding by 31 percent, and mortality by 11 percent. Results were presented today during the Hot Line session at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris, France, and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Conducted in 1,034 centers in 39 countries, the study was coordinated by the Duke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, N.C., and Uppsala Clinical Research Institute, Uppsala, Sweden.

"The risk for stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation is a major public health concern in an aging population," said Dr. Christopher B. Granger, professor of medicine, Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., and lead investigator of the study. "We are therefore encouraged by the outcome of the ARISTOTLE trial, which showed that apixaban, as compared with warfarin, significantly reduced the risk of stroke or systemic embolism, major bleeding, and mortality."

Source: Bristol-Myers Squibb Company