Researchers publish PLATO analysis
According to a subgroup analysis of the Phase III PLATO trial in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients, Brilinta ticagrelor outperformed Plavix clopidogrel even in patients expected to respond well to Plavix because they lacked polymorphisms associated with poor response to Plavix. The analysis by Uppsala University researchers and colleagues included data from 10,285 patients who provided DNA samples in the PLATO trial comparing Brilinta from AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NYSE:AZN) with Plavix from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY) and sanofi-aventis Group (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY).
In the subgroup, Brilinta performed better than Plavix in reducing the composite primary endpoint of time to first occurrence of any event from the composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and stroke, irrespective of polymorphisms in cytochrome P450 2C19 (CYP2C19) or P glycoprotein ( MDR1; ABCB1; P-gp; CD243). Polymorphisms in those two genes are thought to negatively affect Plavix responses. Data were presented at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Stockholm and published in The Lancet. ...