Future directions

Abstract

The large number of novel oral anticoagulants under clinical development reflects the huge clinical demand for such medicines and the desire of the pharmaceutical industry to respond to the as yet unmet needs of patients. Chronic life-long prevention of thromboembolic stroke in atrial fibrillation, an increasingly common cardiac arrhythmia, represents the largest need for oral anticoagulants, and they are required by millions of patients worldwide. Improvements in the diagnosis of venous thromboembolic events such as pulmonary embolisation, along with growing appreciation of their high prevalence and life-threatening nature, have increased the demand for convenient and reliable long-term anticoagulation.