Recurrent events 35% less likely with prasugrel than Plavix

A new, pre-specified analysis of the landmark Phase III head-to-head TRITON-TIMI 38 study showed strong benefits for patients who took Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo and US drug major Eli Lilly's investigational antiplatelet drug prasugrel.

Acute coronary syndromes patients managed with percutaneous coronary intervention, who had survived their first cardiovascular event and then suffered a subsequent event, were 35% less likely to have a recurrent event (composite endpoint of heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular death) than those who took clopidogrel (10.8% vs. 15.4%; p=0.016), according to data due to be published in the European Heart Journal.

The recurrence of subsequent events assessment was part of the larger TRITON-TIMI 38 trial, the primary measure of which showed that prasugrel taken with aspirin reduced the relative risk of the combined endpoint of cardiovascular death, non-fatal heart attacks or non-fatal stroke by 19% more than Sanofi-Aventis/Bristol-Myers Squibb's blockbuster clopidogrel (Plavix/Iscover) taken with aspirin. These benefits were accompanied by an increased risk of serious bleeding with prasugrel overall, some of which may be life threatening.