AstraZeneca’s Brilinta shows benefits in new study

AstraZeneca's acute coronary syndrome treatment Brilinta has demonstrated its efficacy compared to a leading alternative in a clinical study.

New results from the Plato trial have shown that Brilinta tablets can result in a reduction in hazard in terms of time to first events, recurrent cardiovascular and ischemic events, when compared to the control drug.

Typically, trials of this kind are assessed in terms of first event results only, but taking a wider look at the total number of events offers a more comprehensive picture of Brilinta's advantages.

These results were gleaned from a wide-ranging study involving 18,624 patients over a median follow-up period of 277 days.

Dr Christopher Cannon, professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, said: "These new data suggest that treatment with ticagrelor for up to one year reduced hazard for time to first and recurrent events, including cardiovascular death."

This comes after the American College of Chest Physicians updated its guidelines on antithrombotic therapy and thrombosis prevention last month to include a recommendation for Brilinta.