Integrilin, Clopidogrel Show Platelet Inhibition, Reduced Heart Muscle Death

Millennium Pharmaceuticals has announced final results from the CLEAR Platelets (Clopidogrel Loading with Eptifibatide to Arrest the Reactivity of Platelets) trial.

The study assessed low-to-moderate risk patients and showed that addition of Integrilin, a potent glycoprotein IIb-IIIa inhibitor, to clopidogrel provided superior platelet inhibition and prevention of heart muscle damage associated with elective coronary stenting versus clopidogrel alone. Heart muscle damage, assessed by measuring cardiac biomarkers, has been previously linked to mortality in percutaneous coronary intervention.

The study results from CLEAR Platelets were published in the journal Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.