Dear X Fang,
Novastan chemically is called Argatroban. It is a synthetic compound, originally discovered and developed by Mitshubishi Chemicals in Japan. It is already used in Japan for last 2 years. Texas Biotech has licensed Argatroban(Novastan) in USA.
Argatroban is asynthetic compound that directly inhibits Thrombin, last stage in initiation of blood clot. Heparin acts indirectly via Anti Thrombin III. Argatroban has short half life, so can be quickly turned off. With regular Heparin, 3-6% patients develop low platelet counts and one has to stop Heparin. At present there is no good anti coagulant in this situation. Argatroban will do this, without producing any decrease in Platelet counts.
Almost 100 Hospitals in USA had been using Argatroban in Opern Heart surgeries for last several months as part of clinical studiy. Required number of patients are already accrued. Since the drug is already in use in Japan for over 2 years,with no unusual side effects, I doubt any surprizes are likely. I have attended few scientific sessions where Argatroban studies were presented. Looked excellent! Heparin is obviously cheap, so Argatroban cannot replace Heparin, eventhough it does everything that Heparin can do and more.. But in many situations like open heart surgeries or in 3-6% patients who develop low platelet counts with Heparin, this will be excellent drug.
Bharat H. Barai MD
Hematologist |
