Lilly drug reduces stent clot risks, study finds

CHICAGO (Reuters) -
Patients who got Eli Lilly and Co%26#39;s
anti-clotting drug prasugrel after a coronary stent procedure
had fewer stent-related clots than those on standard drug
therapy, an analysis released on Saturday found.

For stent patients, use of Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo Co
Ltd%26#39;s prasugrel could offer better protection against heart
attack, stroke and death from cardiovascular events than
standard treatment with Plavix, researchers said in an article
published in the journal Lancet%26#39;s online edition.

The results of the sub-analysis of data from the
TRITON-TIMI 38 trial were being presented Saturday at the
American College of Cardiology meeting in Chicago.

Study investigators found that intensive anti-clotting
therapy with prasugrel resulted in fewer serious complications,
including stent-related blood clots known as stent thrombosis,
than with standard Plavix, regardless of the type of stent
used. A 58 percent reduction in stent thrombosis was seen with
prasugrel compared with Plavix.

"Stent thrombosis was reduced both early and late after
stent placement in patients randomly assigned prasugrel," the
researchers said.

Stents are small wire mesh tubes inserted into the coronary
arteries that supply blood to the heart to help keep them from
narrowing again after they have been cleared of blockages in an
angioplasty procedure.

The researchers, led by Stephen Wiviott of Brigham and
Women%26#39;s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, did a sub-analysis
of the TRITON-TIMI data to assess the rate, outcomes and
prevention of coronary events in 12,844 patients with different
types of stents who were treated with prasugrel plus aspirin,
or Plavix, also known as clopidogrel, plus aspirin.

Roughly half of the patients received bare metal stents and
half received stents coated with a drug to prevent re-clogging.
Drug-eluting stents reduce the need for repeat procedures but
raise the risk of stent thrombosis. Efforts to reduce the risk
of stent-related clots, stroke or heart attack have focused on
anti-clotting therapy.

The original TRITON-TIMI study of heart patients, first
unveiled in November, showed prasugrel was 19 percent more
effective than Plavix in preventing cardiovascular death,
nonfatal heart attacks and strokes, but caused a significantly
higher amount of serious bleeding.

Plavix, one of the world%26#39;s best-selling drugs, is sold by
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Sanofi-Aventis.

Lilly in December asked the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration to approval prasugrel, considered the most
important experimental medicine in its pipeline. If approved,
Lilly said the drug%26#39;s brand name would be Effient.

(Reporting by Susan Kelly; Editing by Bill Trott)