(L to R) Dr. med. Dagmar Kubitza, Dr. med. Frank Misselwitz, Dr. rer. nat. Elisabeth Perzborn

In the Max-Taut auditorium in Berlin this evening, German Federal President Horst Köhler awarded the ‘Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2009‘, the president’s prize for achievements in technology and innovation, to Dr. med. Frank Misselwitz, Dr. med. Dagmar Kubitza and Dr. rer. nat. Elisabeth Perzborn. The prize is endowed with Euro 250,000.

With their project “Preventing Thromboses – One tablet can save lives”, researchers at Bayer Schering AG in Wuppertal have come out on top against two other excellent projects nominated by the jury for the final round. In industrialized countries, thrombosis – blood clots that clog vessels – are one of the most common causes of death. The three prize-winning researchers and their teams found an effective treatment for this dangerous disease that is also easy to administer. They developed an innovative drug with a very efficient active mechanism and capable of being administered to patients in a single tablet.

The basis of this innovation is the agent Rivaroxaban identified at Bayer Schering Pharma AG. Its mechanism of action is selective and intervenes in the biochemical processes during coagulation. The enzyme Factor Xa is critical for coagulation. It controls the formation of the enzyme thrombin. Thrombin converts fibrinogen into fibrin – the “glue” of the coagulation process. By inhibiting the activity of the Factor Xa enzyme, the Rivaroxaban agent reduces the risk of thrombosis. It is important, however, to note that Rivaroxaban does not completely prevent coagulation so that the body can still stop sources bleeding, for example, after injury or following surgery.

In studies, Rivaroxaban demonstrated not only superior efficacy than conventional standard treatments – in a comparable safety profile -, the active ingredient is also easier to administer. Patients take one daily tablet while conventional preparations for short-term treatments must be injected. Regular blood counts, for example, are not needed during the oral long-term treatment. There is no need to adjust the dose in regard to age, weight, and sex of a patient.

Rivaroxaban has been approved under the brand name Xarelto® in the EU and other countries for the prevention of venous blood clots in adult patients following elective hip or knee replacement surgery. Additional approvals are to follow, for example, for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis or preventing stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation.