Advances in Anticoagulants

Thrombosis is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, the control of blood coagulation has become a major target for new therapeutic intervention over the past two decades. Factor Xa and thrombin inhibitors, which target specific serine proteases in the coagulation cascade, represent a new generation of antithrombotic drugs with improved clinical benefit. Despite these newer antithrombotic agents, there remains a need for more efficacious medications with less bleeding. This review will cover the major findings in the quest for new antithrombotic agents that have published since 2006.