New Drug Reduces Platelet Aggregation and Stent Stenosis

A new medication helps reduce thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for acute coronary syndromes (ACS).

The new drug, known as Effient (prasugrel), helps keep blood platelets from clumping, thus forming clots which can block an artery. Taking Effient with aspirin after PCI has been shown to reduce the chances of having a cardiac event, such as a heart attack, and stent-related blood clots (stent thrombosis) among patients with ACS, a common cardiovascular condition. Effient should be initiated with a loading dose of 60 mg followed by a maintenance dose of 10 mg once daily. In addition, for those patients who weigh less than 60 kg, physicians should consider lowering the maintenance dose to 5 mg once daily. Patients taking Effient should also take 75 mg to 325 mg aspirin orally once daily, according to their doctors' instructions.

Patients should not stop taking Effient without first talking to the doctor who prescribed it for them, as this may result in increased risk of a clot in their stent, a heart attack, or death. Patients should get medical attention right away if they develop any of the following unexpected symptoms: fever, weakness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, or if skin becomes very pale or dotted with purple spots; these symptoms may be signs of a rare but potentially life-threatening condition called thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), which has been reported with other medicines in this class. Effient was developed jointly by Daiichi Sankyo Company (Tokyo, Japan) and Eli Lilly (Indianapolis, IN, USA), and has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"After more than a decade of research and testing, we are proud to provide this new treatment option to patients with ACS who are managed with PCI,” said Takashi Shoda, president and CEO of Daiichi Sankyo. "Our Daiichi Sankyo and Lilly alliance will launch Effient in the United States in the coming weeks.”

"The FDA approval of Effient is a major step forward in the treatment of acute coronary syndromes,” said John Lechleiter, Ph.D., chairman and CEO of Eli Lilly and Company. "The Daiichi Sankyo/Lilly alliance has provided doctors with an important new option that provides greater protection against thrombotic cardiovascular events to help those suffering with ACS who are being managed with PCI.”

Prasugrel is a member of the thienopyridine class of adenosine diphosphate (ADP) receptor inhibitors, similar to ticlopidine and clopidogrel (known as Plavix); these agents reduce the aggregation (clumping) of platelets by irreversibly binding to P2Y12 receptors.

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Daiichi Sankyo Company
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