Recommendation on the Nomenclature for Anticoagulants: Updated Communication from the ISTH SSC Subcommittee on the Control of Anticoagulation

Oral anticoagulation therapy has evolved beyond vitamin K antagonists to include oral direct thrombin inhibitors and factor Xa inhibitors. Collectively known as ‘direct oral anticoagulants’, this class of medications represents the current standard of care for the prevention and treatment of common thrombotic disorders, including atrial fibrillation and venous thromboembolism. Medications that target factors XI/XIa and XII/XIIa are currently under investigation for several thrombotic and non-thrombotic conditions. Given that these emerging medications will likely have distinct risk-benefit profiles to the current direct oral
anticoagulants, may have different routes of administration, and could be used for unique clinical conditions (e.g., hereditary angioedema), the ISTH subcommittee on Control of Anticoagulation assembled a writing group to make recommendations on the nomenclature of anticoagulant medications. With input from the broader thrombosis community, the writing group recommends that anticoagulant medications be described by the route of administration and specific target (e.g., oral Factor XIa inhibitor).