Portola Pharmaceuticals Inc plans before the end of 2015 to seek FDA approval for its agent that has proven highly able to reverse the effects of Johnson & Johnson's Xarelto and Eliquis from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer Inc. Another company is working on a reversal agent for two other leading oral blood thinner drugs. Praxbind, an intravenous injection, is the first reversal agent approved specifically for Pradaxa and works by binding to the drug compound to neutralize it, the FDA said. Although Pradaxa is highly effective at preventing blood clots that can cause strokes in such patients, until now there has been no way to reverse the drug's effects. The Food and Drug Administration said it granted accelerated approval for Praxbind 'for managing patients taking Pradaxa, in emergency or life-threatening situations when bleeding can’t be controlled.” The FDA in 2010 approved Pradaxa, a pill, to prevent stroke in patients with a common heart rhythm irregularity called atrial fibrillation. health regulators on Friday approved Praxbind, a reversal agent made by Germany's privately held Boehringer Ingelheim, for use in emergency situations by patients taking the company's widely used Pradaxa blood thinner.

Praxbind fda approval