Blood Thinner, Cangrelor, Proves Efficient in the Third Attempt

Medicines Co. has succeeded in proving the efficiency of the newly developed blood-thinning drug, Cangrelor, in a third attempt of phase III clinical trial. The clinical data was recently presented at the American College of Cardiology scientific meeting in San Francisco.

The study involved 11,000 heart patients at 153 centers, who underwent angioplasty and stent placement procedures. The patients were treated with either Cangrelor or Plavix, a commonly used blood thinner in these procedures.

The short-term follow up of the patients after the procedure, revealed that the risk of death, heart attack or blood clot within 48 hours of surgery in patients treated with Cangrelor reduced by 22%. It was noted that around 5.9% of the patients treated with Plavix experienced one of these problems, compared with 4.7% of those treated with Cangrelor.

However, severe bleeding was observed in 0.16% of the patients on Cangrelor while only 0.11% of those on Plavix experienced severe bleeding within 48 hours of the procedure.

It is said that Cangrelor acts very rapidly and its effect subsides soon. This makes it possible to begin the surgery at the earliest without having to wait for the effect to wear off in order to avoid bleeding during surgery.

The company has decided to apply for FDA approval soon and once approved the drug is expected to have huge impact in patient care.

Source: Medindia