Search is Powered by Google
Follow us on:
Follow our health news on Twitter
Follow Our News on Facebook
Personalization
login | register
Cardiovascular / Cardiology News

Lilly's Anti-clotting Drug Excess Bleeding Detected, But More Effective In Preventing Heart Attacks Than Plavix

rate icon Featured Article
Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Also Included In: Stroke;  Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Article Date: 04 Nov 2007 - 9:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article


Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:5 stars

5 (2 votes)

Health Professional:5 stars

5 (1 votes)

Article Opinions: 0 posts

Eli Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo Co's investigational anti-clotting drug, Prasugrel, was found to be more effective at preventing heart attacks than Plavix, but also caused excessive bleeding among patients in a clinical trial, according to a new report. This excessive bleeding may undermine its future success. However, Prasugrel was definitely better at reducing deaths from non-fatal heart attacks and strokes, compared to Plavix.

2.4% of patients in a trial involving 13,600 participants receiving Prasugrel experienced at least one major bleeding event - much higher than the 1.8% of those on Plavix.

Dr. Deepak Bhatt, Cleveland Clinic, author of the Editorial which accompanied the study, explained "When it comes to anti-clotting medications there is no free lunch. In order to reduce heart attack risk, there is a trade-off with increased bleeding."

You can read about this trial in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Results were also announced in Orlando, Florida, during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association.

In two small trials, Eli Lilly had stopped giving Prasugrel to patients without fully explaining its reasons for this. The word is that the excessive bleeding looks like a likely cause.

For Prasugrel to be approved by the FDA one day, its safety would most likely have to improve - i.e. the excessive bleeding risk would have to come down significantly. Eli Lilly and Daiichi have plunged enormous amounts of money into the development of Prasugrel, in the hopes it would become a serious challenger for Bristol Myers Squibb's and Sanofi's Plavix, which earns over $6.5 billion annually for the two companies. Plavix is known as a "blockbuster" (a super selling drug).

Dr. Deepak Bhatt explained that this trial has demonstrated, despite the excessive bleeding, that the more powerful oral anti-platelet drugs further reduce coronary complications.

In this latest trial 9.9% of patients receiving Prasugrel experienced a non-fatal heart attack or stroke, compared to 12.1% of those who were given Plavix.

"Intensifying Platelet Inhibition - Navigating between Scylla and Charybdis"
Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D.
NEJM - 10.1056/NEJMe0706859
Click here to read first 100 words online

"Prasugrel versus Clopidogrel in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes"
Stephen D. Wiviott, M.D., Eugene Braunwald, M.D., Carolyn H. McCabe, B.S., Gilles Montalescot, M.D., Ph.D., Witold Ruzyllo, M.D., Shmuel Gottlieb, M.D., Franz-Joseph Neumann, M.D., Diego Ardissino, M.D., Stefano De Servi, M.D., Sabina A. Murphy, M.P.H., Jeffrey Riesmeyer, M.D., Govinda Weerakkody, Ph.D., C. Michael Gibson, M.D., Elliott M. Antman, M.D., for the TRITON-TIMI 38 Investigators
NEJM - 10.1056/NEJMoa0706482
Click here to view Abstract online

Written by - Christian Nordvqist

View drug information on PLAVIX.

Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today




Personalized Homepage Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Hemophilia Opioid Induced Constipation Pneumococcal Disease ADHD Anxiety Asthma Atrial Fibrillation Autism Cancer Diabetes Lung Cancer Lupus Medicare / Medicaid Obesity and BMI Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells All 'What Is...' Articles

Ophthalmology Urology
About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Links Contact Us

add medical news today to your facebook
medical news gadget

Please fill in our survey

Swine Flu Image

Swine Flu Updates

- Latest Swine Flu News
- What is Swine Flu?
- Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
- Swine Flu - Top 20 FAQ
- Daily Email News Alerts
Stick with Medical News Today for the latest news updates on swine flu.


These are the most read articles from this news category for the last 6 months:
Top Article Star
What Is Low Blood Pressure? What Is Hypotension?
03 Aug 2009
Low blood pressure is also known as hypotension. For millions of people who suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure) hypotension may seem great. If symptoms are mild hypotension usually requires no treatment...


Stress and Sports image Stress and Sports

Many people turn to sports to unwind, but the pressure of competition can turn otherwise relaxing pursuits into sources of stress (and affect your game, too). Our panel of experts will discuss what you can do to make sure your sports life helps, rather than hurts, your state of mind...

Life After a Heart Transplant image Life After a Heart Transplant

Heart transplant success is determined by your post-surgery quality of life. Successful patients are able to resume activities they enjoyed before the procedure, such as moderate exercise and sexual activity. Join Dr. Mehmet Oz and ex-baseball star and donor-heart recipient Frank Torre, as they...

View more videos...