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Abstract
Edoxaban is an oral, direct factor Xa inhibitor which has recently been approved for use in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism collectively, venous thromboembolism (VTE) and for the prevention of recurrent VTE. This article reviews the pharmacological properties of edoxaban as well as its tolerability and therapeutic efficacy in the treatment and prevention of recurrent VTE events. As demonstrated in the pivotal Hokusai-VTE phase III trial, once-daily edoxaban after initial treatment with heparin was non-inferior to standard therapy with heparin/ warfarin in preventing recurrent VTE events and was associated with a significantly lower risk of clinically relevant bleeding than the traditional therapy. Edoxaban shares the advantages of other direct oral anticoagulants over traditional therapies, including the lack of requirement for routine coagulation monitoring, a rapid onset and offset of action, and few drug-drug interactions. It offers the convenience of once-daily dosing, can be taken without regard to food and allows for a dose reduction in patients with certain clinical features.