Publication of Brilinta data keeps up AZ's momentum with Brilinta

Some eight years after the drug won its first approval in Europe, Anglo Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) is still building the case for Brilinta (ticagrelor) in cardiovascular (CV) disease and associated complications.

On Monday, the company announced the publication of a new real-world analysis of more than 45,000 heart attack survivors, in the journal Heart, suggesting that treatment with Brilinta plus low dose aspirin, compared to clopidogrel plus low dose aspirin, is associated with an 18% reduction of risk over one year for the composite endpoint of death, heart attack or stroke, in patients with moderate kidney disease.

Clopidogrel is the generic name for Sanofi’s (Euronext: SAN) blockbuster Plavix, a drug that is now off patent.