Early use of Merck & Co's Aggrastat benefits STEMI patients

Early, in-ambulance treatment with antiplatelet agent, US drug major Merck & Co's Aggrastat (tirofiban HCl), in addition to the standard combined treatment of aspirin, heparin and clopidogrel, significantly improves the results of primary coronary angioplasty in patients with ST-elevated myocardial infarction, according to findings presented at the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, in Munich, Germany.

Data from the combined open-label and double-blind, placebo-controlled, multinational, On-TIME 2 trial in 1,398 randomized subjects showed that treatment with Aggrastat, a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor, in addition to the standard triple treatment package, significantly reduced the incidence of residual ST-segment deviation versus placebo or no Aggrastat after PCI in STEMI patients (p<0.005). The ST segment in the electrocardiogram is a good marker of vessel occlusion and closely linked to the outcome of the patients with myocardial infarction, noted the firm

"These results are significant in that they address the two key unknowns in this area - firstly, the value of early intervention with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors on top of the standard treatment of aspirin, heparin and clopidogrel in STEMI patients and secondly, the most effective timing of that intervention," said Arnoud van't Hof, the trial's principal investigator.