Bayer's new blood thinning drug passes safety tests

A new drug which has been manufactured by the German pharmaceutical company Bayer has proved to be just as successful as warfarin in preventing strokes.

The blood thinner Xarelto, which is also known as Rivaroxaban, has just undergone phase three clinical safety tests during a Japanese study.

The results of the study are being reported as positive, after it was found that it did not raise the risk of bleeding in Japanese stroke patients.

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In a statement Bayer said of the results: "It is important that Rivaroxaban demonstrated non-inferior safety and that there were numerically fewer intracranial hemorrhages versus warfarin.”

 The company has been seeking Japanese approval to market the Rivaroxaban drug for treating patients with irregular heartbeats since April.

 Bayer believes potential sales of the blood thinning treatment could total US$2.3 billion each year, which is equivalent to €2 billion.

The drug was developed in partnership with Johnson & Johnson and it already sells in 110 countries across the world.