The trial conducted by the Uppsala Clinical Research Center in Sweden finds that the new drug reduces death chances by nearly 20 percent and is more effective if used instead of Plavix and Warfarin, drugs that were used for restricting blood clotting in heart patients till now.
18,624 people suffering from heart disease participated in this study that was conducted from 2006-08. Out of these, half were given Plavix and the other half Brilinta.
Observation of these patients revealed that while patients receiving Plavix had a 5.9 percent risk of death, Brilinta had 4.5 percent death risk, which is quite encouraging.
Brilinta deemed a better drug
Dr. Lars Wallentin who initiated the present study opines that the blood thinner drug, whose generic name is ‘ticagrelor’, is more effective in preventing blood clots, heart attacks, strokes and death in heart patients than any other similar drug.
"The PLATO (trial) data suggest ticagrelor (Brilinta) could be a valuable new option for a broad range of acute coronary syndromes patients. We look forward to filing Brilinta with regulatory authorities in the fourth quarter,” says Anders Ekblom, executive vice-president at AstraZaneca.
It may be noted that the drug also helped in reducing bleeding for heart patients, which is a bonus as Plavix-taking patients suffer from bleeding problems as a side effect of the drug.
Apart from this, patients recovered from its effects faster and this enabled faster surgery. This, again, is a feature lacking in other blood-thinning drugs.
The drug is not yet available in the market but the company plans to launch it most probably by end of 2010. As of now, approval is awaited for the same.
A breakthrough invention for heart patients
The present study brings some good news for patients suffering from heart disease as now practitioners have more options to choose from according to the degree of problem at hand.
According to Dr. Douglas Weaver from the American College of Cardiology, “It will become the new standard of care. It's more effective (than Plavix) and appears to be even safer.”
But experts suggest that more research should be conducted on the new drug to find whether it has any side effects or not and only after that scientists should decide on the drug’s effectiveness.
The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona and have also been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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