Expert Sparring over Xarelto: Califf and Nissen Clash

An intriguing subplot in the September 8 advisory committee review of FDA’s Xarelto review was the verbal jousting between two high-visibility figures in the world of cardiovascular drug testing and drug therapy: Robert Califf (Vice-chancellor-clinical research at Duke and a principal investigator on the key Xarelto study, ROCKET-AF) and Steve Nissen (chair-cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic).