Eli Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo announce ‘statistical superiority’ of prasugrel

Eli Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo have announced the results of a landmark phase III clinical study of prasugrel, with the the investigational antiplatet agent showing a statistical superiority to clopidogrel as a treatment for patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

Patients administered with prasugrel exhibited a 19 per cent reduction in relative risk of cardiovascular death, non-fatal stroke and non-fatal heart attack – the primary endpoint of the study – when compared to those receiving clopidogrel.

The firms report a “low” overall incidence of non-coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) bleeding in the Triton trial, but note that, compared to patients administered with clopidogrel, patients treated with prasugel showed an increase in major non-CABG bleeding.

J Anthony Ware, cardiovascular platform leader for prasugrel at Lilly, said: “The Triton data demonstrate the statistical superiority of this new antiplatelet therapy to prevent heart attacks and validate our decision to test prasugrel head to head against clopidogrel.”

He added that the firm is happy with the study results and excited by the potential the study shows for further customisation of treatment with prasugrel to enable patients to receive the greatest benefit from the therapy.

In December 2006, Lilly presented an update of its pharmaceutical pipeline development to Wall Street, reporting that a number of compounds, including prasugrel, enzastaurin and arzoxifene were now in phase III of clinical development.