Lusutrombopag: A Review in Thrombocytopenia in Patients with Chronic Liver Disease Prior to a Scheduled Procedure

Lusutrombopag (Mulpleta®), an orally bioavailable, small molecule thrombopoietin receptor agonist, is approved for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in adult patients with chronic liver disease who are scheduled to undergo a procedure. In placebo-controlled phase 3 clinical trials, lusutrombopag significantly increased the proportion of patients who did not require a platelet transfusion prior to the procedure or rescue therapy for bleeding up to 7 days after the scheduled procedure. Lusutrombopag also significantly increased the proportion of patients who were responders (i.e. had a platelet count ≥ 50 × 109/L and an increase of ≥ 20 × 109/L from baseline) compared with placebo. Lusutrombopag is well tolerated, with headache being the most common adverse reaction in lusutrombopag recipients in clinical trials. Thus, lusutrombopag represents a promising emerging therapeutic option for the treatment of thrombocytopenia in adult patients with chronic liver disease who are scheduled to undergo a procedure.