The trial is being conducted in conjunction with the TIMI Study Group at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital.
The phase III study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of prasugrel compared with clopidogrel, also known as Plavix, in reducing ischemic events such as heart attacks, stroke and death in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a procedure to open blockages in heart arteries that includes the use of coronary stents.
Antiplatelet agents are used both acutely and as maintenance therapy to inhibit platelet activation and subsequent aggregation that occur in diseased arteries and in response to invasive procedures such as PCI.
Recent studies suggest that a relationship may exist between a poor platelet response to antiplatelet agents in individual patients and poor clinical outcomes, which can manifest as major adverse cardiovascular events, including heart attacks.