Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Blocking bleeding: reversing anticoagulant therapy

A new generation of target-specific inhibitors of the coagulation enzymes thrombin and factor Xa has been approved for a number of indications, but the clinical use of these drugs is hindered by the lack of a way to reverse bleeding, should it occur. An antidote to these new oral anticoagulants has now been designed and shows promise in small-animal models of blood loss (pages 446–451).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Lu et al.11 now describe the design and actions of an antidote to target-specific anticoagulants.

Katie Vicari

References

  1. Ansell, J.E. Arch. Intern. Med. 153, 586–596 (1993).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Thomas, K. A promising drug with a flaw. New York Times (3 November 2012).

  3. Kaatz, S. et al. Am. J. Hematol. 87, S141–S145 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Budnitz, D.S., Lovegrove, M.C., Shehab, N. & Richards, C.L. N. Engl. J. Med. 365, 2002–2012 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. QuarterWatch. http://www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/pdfs/2011Q4.pdf (2012).

  6. Sarode, R. et al. Am. J. Hematol. 87, S146 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Bauer, K.A. Am. J. Hematol. 87, S119–S126 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Dager, W. & Roberts, A. Crit. Care Med. 39 (suppl. 12), 243 (2011).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Garber, S.T., Sivakumar, W. & Schmidt, R.H. J. Neurosurg. 116, 1093–1096 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Levi, M. Thromb. Haemost. 108, 201–202 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Lu, G. et al. Nat. Med. 19, 446–451 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Marketwire. http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/portola-initiates-phase-2-study-prt4445-universal-antidote-factor-xa-inhibitor-anticoagulants-1735434.htm (2012).

  13. Rusconi, C.P. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. 22, 1423–1428 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Povsic, T.J. et al. Euro. Heart J. published online, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehs232 (2 August 2012).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jack Ansell.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

J.A. is a member of the scientific advisory board of and owns equity in Perosphere.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ansell, J. Blocking bleeding: reversing anticoagulant therapy. Nat Med 19, 402–404 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3157

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nm.3157

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research