IDARUCIZUMAB, A SPECIFIC REVERSAL AGENT FOR DABIGATRAN: THE PRESENT-DAY KNOWLEDGE

Abstract

Idaruzizumab (Praxbind©) is a specific reversal agent for dabigatran, which is a humanized Fab fragment of a monoclonal antibody. Immediately after administration, the drug binds to dabigatran and its metabolites, inhibiting 99% of the anti-coagulant activity of dabigatran from the very first minutes. In most cases, after the administration of two doses of idaruzizumab, 2.5 mg each, the anticoagulant effect of dabigatran is inhibited for 24 hours. The drug is safe, has no prothrombotic action on its own. The evidencebase administration of idarucizumab is supported by the open prospective cohort REVERSE-AD study. The study showed that idaruzizumab effectively inhibits the anticoagulant effect of dabigatran in patients with life-threatening bleeding, as well as in patients who required emergency invasive intervention. This study is characterized by the absence of a placebo group, which makes it possible to make only indirect evaluation of the clinical efficacy of this drug. The absence of the placebo group was due to ethical concerns that did not allow the investigators to leave patients with life-threatening conditions without a specific reversal agent for dabigatran. So far, several small series of clinical cases have been published, describing the use of idarucizumab in actual practice. In addition to official indications for the use of the drug, its use as a step to thrombolysis in patients receiving dabigatran has been described. The leading experts of cardiological communities believe that existing experience in using idaruzizumab is sufficient to recommend its use in patients with life-threatening bleeding on the top of already administered dabigatran therapy along with general measures aimed at eliminating the source of bleeding and maintaining hemodynamics.