Breakthrough Drug Reduces Heart Attacks and Strokes

In what is being hailed as a major advance in the treatment of heart disease, an international clinical trial has demonstrated that early and continuing use of an antiplatelet drug called clopidogrel significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular death, heart attack, and stroke in patients with acute coronary syndrome (unstable angina or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (NQMI). The results of the study, called CURE, were presented at the 50th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology, in Orlando (FL, USA).

The study involved more than 12, 500 patients with unstable angina or NQMI in 482 hospitals in 28 countries. The results showed that clopidogrel in addition to standard therapy, including aspirin, reduces the risk of atherothrombotic events by 20% compared to those patients receiving standard therapy alone. The drug demonstrated benefit that was incremental to and independent of other therapies that patients might have received, such as anticoagulants, beta blockers, and lipid-lowering agents. The study also confirmed the synergistic effect of clopidogrel and aspirin.

The study was conducted by an independent group of investigators and coordinated by the Canadian Cardiovascular Collaboration at McMaster University (Hamilton, Ontario). It was supported by a grant from Sanofi-Synthelabo (Paris, France) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (New York, NY, USA), which are co-marketing clopidogrel.

"The CURE study provides important new findings that constitute a major step forward and could lead to a very significant improvement in the treatment of patients at risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death,” said principal investigator, Dr. Salim Yusuf, professor of medicine at McMaster University.

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