Firm introduces thrombosis drug

By Olaitan Ganiu

Worried by the rising cases of deaths caused by blood clot or venous thromboembolism (VTE), Sanofi, a multinational pharmaceutical company, has launched a new range of drugs to combat the disease.

According to the company, the introduction of CLEXANE  (enoxaparin sodium) into the market was in fulfillment of its mission of providing innovative therapies to improve  VTE management.

The unveiling held across six cities – Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Enugu, Kano and Abuja simultaneously.

VTE, described as blood clots occurring as deep vein thrombosis that can result in pulmonary embolism, is a growing public health issue around the world.

General Manager and Country Chair, Sanofi Nigeria-Ghana, Folake Odediran, said one in four people die from thrombosis; meaning the disease claims more lives than AIDS, breast and prostate cancer and motor vehicle crashes combined.

She said Sanofi was focused on driving VTE awareness, capacity building, partnerships with healthcare associations and providing innovative treatment and prophylaxis options.

“In line with our purpose of identifying the health needs in our environment and solving it, we don’t just try to promote our product, we very much trying to understand the concerns are or what are gaps are in therapy and provide to it. Our interactions with stakeholders in the management of VTE, experts have provided insights into unmet medical needs.

Odediran advised that there should be an institution to access whether a patient is at risk of thrombosis. She said: “It is not just for a patient to be admitted, but there should an institution to examine and access patients. We’ve already partnered some institutions to set up VTE safety zones.

‘’Aside, the launch we want Nigerians to realise that thrombosis is high prevalence, especially among surgically and medically patients who will be in the hospital for a long time.

During her presentation, Prof. Omolade Awodu, a Haematologist, identified VTE as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalised patients.

She said: “VTE is one of the leading causes of death; it is a clotting disorder that remains undiagnosed in more than 50 per cent of cases but may present precipitously with complications that may be life-threatening such as massive pulmonary thromboembolism and occasionally the phenomenon called phlegmasia cerula dolens, which refers to massive swelling of the whole of the limb with the attendant pulling of blood to the limb leading to hypovolemic shock and death.”

Awodu said evidence suggested that deaths occur among Nigerians due to complications of VTE that were not diagnosed ante-mortem. “We have no clear idea of the burden of thrombotic disorders in Nigeria, although we know from medical practice that several deaths post-surgery are related to thrombotic disorders.

“A number of cases of sudden deaths are diagnosed at post-mortem as being due to complications of thrombotic disorders. It is estimated from a few hospital-based studies in Nigeria that inheritable predisposing factors to thrombosis may not be that rare.”