BACKGROUND

Apixaban and rivaroxaban are the oral anticoagulants most frequently used to treat acute venous thromboembolism. However, uncertainty remains about the difference in bleeding risk between the two medications.

METHODS

In an international trial with a prospective, randomized, open-label, blinded end-point design, we assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, eligible patients with acute symptomatic pulmonary embolism or proximal deep-vein thrombosis to receive apixaban or rivaroxaban for 3 months. Apixaban was given at a dose of 10 mg twice daily for 7 days followed by 5 mg twice daily, and rivaroxaban was given at a dose of 15 mg twice daily for 21 days followed by 20 mg daily. The primary outcome was clinically relevant bleeding, a composite of major bleeding or clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding, as defined according to the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis, during the 3-month trial period. Secondary outcomes included death from any cause.

RESULTS

A total of 2760 patients underwent randomization: 1370 to the apixaban group and 1390 to the rivaroxaban group. A primary-outcome event occurred in 44 of 1345 patients (3.3%) in the apixaban group and 96 of 1355 patients (7.1%) in the rivaroxaban group (relative risk, 0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.33 to 0.65; P<0.001). Death from any cause occurred in 1 patient (0.1%) in the apixaban group and in 4 patients (0.3%) in the rivaroxaban group (relative risk, 0.25; 95% CI, 0.03 to 2.26). Serious adverse events unrelated to bleeding or venous thrombosis occurred in 36 patients (2.7%) in the apixaban group and in 30 patients (2.2%) in the rivaroxaban group.

CONCLUSIONS

Among patients with acute venous thromboembolism, the risk of clinically relevant bleeding was significantly lower with apixaban than with rivaroxaban during the 3-month treatment period. (Funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and others; COBRRA ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03266783.)

Bleeding Risk with Apixaban versus Rivaroxaban

In an international, randomized trial involving patients with acute venous thromboembolism, the risk of clinically relevant bleeding was significantly lower with apixaban than with rivaroxaban during the 3-month treatment period.

Transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT) and sickle cell disease (SCD) are severe monogenic diseases with severe and potentially life-threatening manifestations. BCL11A is a transcription factor that represses γ-globin expression and fetal hemoglobin in erythroid cells. We performed electroporation of CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells obtained from healthy donors, with CRISPR-Cas9 targeting the BCL11A erythroid-specific enhancer. Approximately 80% of the alleles at this locus were modified, with no evidence of off-target editing. After undergoing myeloablation, two patients — one with TDT and the other with SCD — received autologous CD34+ cells edited with CRISPR-Cas9 targeting the same BCL11A enhancer. More than a year later, both patients had high levels of allelic editing in bone marrow and blood, increases in fetal hemoglobin that were distributed pancellularly, transfusion independence, and (in the patient with SCD) elimination of vaso-occlusive episodes. (Funded by CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT03655678 for CLIMB THAL-111 and NCT03745287 for CLIMB SCD-121.)

BACKGROUND

As-needed use of albuterol-budesonide has been shown to result in a significantly lower risk of severe asthma exacerbation than as-needed use of albuterol alone among patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. Data on albuterol-budesonide in mild asthma are needed.

METHODS

We conducted a fully virtual, decentralized, phase 3b, multicenter, double-blind, event-driven trial involving persons 12 years of age or older with disease that was uncontrolled despite treatment for mild asthma with a short-acting β₂-agonist (SABA) with or without a low-dose inhaled glucocorticoid or leukotriene-receptor antagonist. Participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to a fixed-dose combination of 180 μg of albuterol and 160 μg of budesonide (with each dose consisting of two inhaler actuations of 90 μg and 80 μg, respectively) or 180 μg of albuterol (with each dose consisting of two inhaler actuations of 90 μg) on an as-needed basis for up to 52 weeks. The primary end point was the first severe asthma exacerbation, assessed in a time-to-event analysis, in the on-treatment efficacy population, and the key secondary end point was the first severe exacerbation in the intention-to-treat population. Secondary end points included the annualized rate of severe asthma exacerbations and exposure to systemic glucocorticoids.

RESULTS

A total of 2516 participants underwent randomization; 1797 (71.4%) completed the trial. Of 2421 participants in the full analysis population (1209 assigned to the albuterol-budesonide group and 1212 to the albuterol group), 97.2% were 18 years of age or older; 74.4% used a SABA alone at baseline. The trial was stopped for efficacy at a prespecified interim analysis. A severe exacerbation occurred in 5.1% of the participants in the albuterol-budesonide group and in 9.1% of those in the albuterol group in the on-treatment efficacy population (hazard ratio, 0.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.39 to 0.73) and in 5.3% and 9.4%, respectively, in the intention-to-treat population (hazard ratio, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.73) (P<0.001 for both comparisons). The annualized rate of severe asthma exacerbations was lower with albuterol-budesonide than with albuterol (0.15 vs. 0.32; rate ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.34 to 0.64), as was the mean annualized total dose of systemic glucocorticoids (23.2 vs. 61.9 mg per year). Adverse events were similar in the two treatment groups.

CONCLUSIONS

As-needed use of albuterol-budesonide resulted in a lower risk of a severe asthma exacerbation than as-needed use of albuterol alone among participants with disease that was uncontrolled despite treatment for mild asthma. (Funded by Bond Avillion 2 Development and AstraZeneca; BATURA ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05505734.)

As-Needed Albuterol-Budesonide in Mild Asthma

In a randomized trial, as-needed albuterol-budesonide resulted in a lower risk of severe asthma exacerbation than as-needed albuterol among participants with disease that was uncontrolled despite treatment for mild asthma.