02 September 2009

New drug could reduce the chances of a second heart attack

Source: The Daily Telegraph, 31 August 2009

Dr Rob Storey, from the University of Sheffield’s School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has led a study which found that thousands of lives could be saved by a new drug, ticagrelor, which reduces the chances of heart attack patients having a second cardiac arrest.

A new drug reduced the risk of dying from a heart attack or other cardiac problem by one fifth compared to the current gold standard drug.

The results of a study were presented at the European Society of Cardiology in Barcelona, Spain and were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Ticagrelor also reduced the risk of suffering a second attack by 16 per cent when compared with clopidogrel, a commonly used anti-clotting drug.

The drug did not increase the risk of bleeding, which is the most serious side effect of anti-clotting drugs.

Dr Robert Storey, lead author and honorary consultant in cardiology at Sheffield University said: "These data show that this new drug has the potential to save many lives in the UK.

“The results of this trial are hugely exciting in that we see, for the first time, improved efficacy without an increased overall risk of life-threatening or fatal bleeding."

The results mean that for every 1,000 patients treated for one year with ticagrelor instead of clopidogrel, there would be 14 fewer deaths or 11 fewer heart attacks without an increase in bleeding problems.

Ticagrelor, made by Astra Zeneca, is not yet licensed.

The study, called Plato, involved more than 18,000 patients worldwide including Britain, where patients were randomly assigned to have ticagrelor twice daily with a placebo or clopidogrel plus placebo for a year.

Guy Yeoman, Medical Director, AstraZeneca UK, said: “The discovery and development of ticagrelor has been an exciting journey for AstraZeneca, building upon our heritage in developing effective cardiovascular therapies.

"Ticagrelor works in a different way to other medicines currently available, and had demonstrated in earlier clinical trials that it has a faster onset of action compared to clopidogrel and a more consistent and predictable response.

"We have now seen through the announcement of the Plato results that the earlier positive results have translated into positive outcomes for patients”.