Fondaparinux
ArixtraPubChem CID 5282448 · 3D model
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Grabs onto a natural blood protein and turbo-charges its ability to shut down one specific clotting factor, working as a single, exact, lab-built molecule rather than the mix of chain lengths found in heparin-based drugs.
How it works
Fondaparinux doesn't block clotting directly. It grabs onto a natural blood protein called antithrombin and turbo-charges it, so antithrombin becomes much faster at shutting down one particular clotting factor, factor Xa. Because fondaparinux is a short, exact five-sugar chain, it's too small to also grab the next clotting factor in line, which is why it hits factor Xa specifically rather than clotting broadly the way heparin does. It's also made as one exact, lab-built molecule, unlike heparin-based drugs, which are a mix of many different-length chains.
What it’s used for
Fondaparinux is used to prevent blood clots after certain surgeries (hip, knee, or abdominal), to treat existing blood clots in the legs or lungs alongside the pill medicine warfarin, and, in children, to treat clots directly.
- Mechanism
- Indirect factor Xa inhibitor (antithrombin-mediated, synthetic pentasaccharide)
- Drug class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Anticoagulant