UK cost agency wants more data on Bayer's anti-clot drug

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's health costs watchdog is asking Bayer for more information on its anti-clotting drug Xarelto before deciding whether to recommend it for use on the state health service.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) said data provided so far by Bayer on the drug, known generically as rivaroxaban, were not enough to judge whether it would be cost effective for prevention of strokes and embolisms in people with a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation.

"Evidence of rivaroxaban's cost-effectiveness was not reflective of all the people with atrial fibrillation in the UK who would be eligible for treatment with the drug," the watchdog said in a statement on Monday.

Germany's Bayer is developing Xarelto with the U.S. drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.

NICE's decision suggests a cautious approach to a wave of new treatments for preventing stroke in people with atrial fibrillation, a common heart arrhythmia.

Other drugs battling with Xarelto in this market include Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer's Eliquis and Boehringer Ingelheim's Pradaxa.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)