This article about new anticoagulant drugs is part of the seventh American College of Chest Physicians Conference on Antithrombotic and Thrombolytic Therapy: Evidence-Based Guidelines. The limitations of existing oral and parenteral anticoagulant agents have prompted a search for novel agents. Focusing on new anticoagulant drugs for the prevention and treatment of arterial and venous thrombosis, this article (1) reviews arterial and venous thrombogenesis, (2) discusses the regulation of coagulation, (3) describes the pathways for testing new anticoagulant agents, (4) describes new anticoagulant strategies focusing primarily on agents in phase II or III clinical testing, and (5) provides clinical perspective as to which of these new strategies is most likely to succeed.
