Brilinta: New Pill Better Than Plavix at Preventing Heart Attacks, Researchers Say

Brilinta, a new Astra Zeneca blood-thinning pill designed to stop heart attacks before they happen, performed better than Plavix in a new study without increasing the risks of life-threatening bleeding, researchers said.

The news from the clinical study figures to be a blow to Plavix, the blockbuster drug that has had a corner on the blood-thinner market for years but is facing increased competition from a slew of new drugs. Brilinta is set to debut in 2010 and Plavix is expected to face generic United States competition for the first time in 2012.

Upsides, Downsides of Brilinta

Brilinta, which is known chemically as ticagrelor, appears to have more upside than another new blood thinner, Effient (prasugrel), which carries stern labeling warnings about the risks of potentially fatal bleeding.

Also, Brilinta has a possible edge over other blood thinners because it can be easily and quickly reversed, which means patients can take it closer to surgery without suffering increased bleeding during the procedure, the study found.

However, it’s not all good news for Brilinta. Unlike Plavix and Effient, which are taken just once a day, Brilinta must be taken twice daily. And a study led by the Uppsala Clinical Research Center in Sweden found Brilinta patients were more likely than those on Plavix to develop spontaneous bleeding, including intracranial and gastrointestinal bleeding, not related to heart bypass surgery.

Also, Brilinta is linked to rare instances of shortness of breath.

Reduced Death Risks Cited

This is the second time in recent months that AstraZeneca has boasted about Brilinta’s performance compared to Plavix. In May, the company report that its new drug had bested Pavix in a head-to-head late-stage clinical trial.

According to that study, patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who took Brilinta were about 16 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke or die from cardiovascular causes than Plavix patients. Overall, Brilinta produced a 22-percent reduction in death rates from all causes.

ACS is a category of diseases that includes unstable angina, or acute chest pain, and heart attack.

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