Sermo Study shows 70% of Specialists are Ready to Replace Warfarin

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Sermo (http://www.sermo.com), the world's largest online community for physicians, today announced a free Sermo Report titled, "Potential Replacements for Coumadin (warfarin)." The report gathered feedback from physicians about awareness and understanding of these products and potential barriers to prescribing.

65% of all respondents were aware that a new product, Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate mesylate), was currently available for use. Others indicated that while they may use Pradaxa, they are awaiting the approval of a similar drug, Xarelto (rivaroxaban).

This free Sermo Report polled 141 physicians across multiple specialties. Respondents discussed the importance of understanding how to reverse the effects of these medications when necessary, drug-drug interactions and dosing.  

Physicians shared their points of view on the advantages of replacing warfarin:

"...I think that this will be a watershed event in the treatment of non-valvular AF, and hopefully in other conditions, such as VTE, requiring anti-coagulation.  I hope that soon Coumadin will only be found in history books"  

-Family Medicine

"Dosing up to twice a day compared to once a day for warfarin could be acceptable since dabigatran needs no monitoring. Still QD dosing improves compliance."

-Internal Medicine

Many of the respondents also participated in an online discussion regarding various treatment strategies and shared their plans to use the newly available therapy.

The full report includes:

• Key Findings
• Physician Demographics
• Discussion Highlights
• Quantitative and Qualitative Post Analysis

Companies that are in the process of developing or have approved anticoagulants include Bayer/Johnson & Johnson, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer and Merck/Portola.

To download full results of this free report, visit sermo.com/client.

About Sermo Reports

Sermo Reports solicit perceptions and opinions from physicians about new drugs, devices, treatments, trends, and other topics of interest. Data for Sermo Reports is gathered through Sermo Posts, which allow physicians to participate in a poll and comment on the topic.  All physicians on Sermo are verified and credentialed.

About Sermo

Sermo is the largest online physician community, where over 117,000 practicing physicians discuss a wide range of issues from clinical cases to advice about drugs and practice management. By leveraging Sermo's social media platform, clients can tap into unsolicited, peer-to-peer dialog and engage MDs to gain market intelligence and increase brand awareness. For more information, visit www.sermo.com/client.

SOURCE Sermo