AstraZeneca Drug Outperforms Plavix in Heart Attack Study

Boston (DbTechNo) - A new study has proven that Brilinta, a drug from AstraZeneca reduces risk of heart attacks in patients more than Plavix, from Bristol-Myers Squibb.

The drug is in its experimental phase, but after this positive finding, it will surely be on its way to approval by the FDA.

The drug was compared to Plavix in the PLATO trial featuring 18,000 heart patients, but researchers focused on the 8,430 sickest patients who were given one of the drugs.

Brilinta was proven to act much quicker than rival Plavix, thus reducing risk of death in patients who suffered major heart attacks resulting in secondary emergency procedures needing to be performed on the heart or surrounding arteries.

“The results are very clear and actually very consistent with the overall trial results of the larger PLATO trial,” preventing cardiovascular events while not increasing the major bleeding risk, said Dr. Philippe Gabriel Steg, lead investigator of the study that was presented at the American Heart Association scientific meeting in Orlando.

AstraZeneca plan to file for FDA approval of Brilinta by the end of this year.