Anti-clotting drugs prasugrel and clopidogrel yield similar results

The TRILOGY ACS study, the first trial to study patients with acute coronary syndrome who do not undergo coronary stenting or bypass surgery found no significant difference between two currently marketed anti-clotting drugs – Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo (TYO: 4565) and US partner Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) Effient (prasugrel) and clopidogrel, Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) once blockbuster brand Plavix – in preventing the first occurrence of death, heart attack or stroke, according to Duke University Medical Center cardiologists.

The study also showed no difference in serious bleeding complications. At the same time, the Duke researchers observed an unexpected reduction in heart attack, stroke and death among patients treated with prasugrel beyond one year of treatment. The researchers say this potential time-dependent benefit requires further exploration.

The results were presented by the Duke researchers at the European Society of Cardiology Scientific Sessions in Munich, Germany, and published on-line in the New England Journal of Medicine. The TRILOGY ACS study was conducted by Daiichi Sankyo and Lilly in conjunction with the Duke Clinical Research Institute.