FDA approves Effient to reduce the risk of heart attack in angioplasty patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the blood-thinning drug Effient tablets (prasugrel) to reduce the risk of blood clots from forming in patients who undergo angioplasty, a common procedure to unblock a clogged coronary artery. During an angioplasty, a balloon is used to open the artery that has been narrowed by atherosclerotic plaque.Often, a tiny wire mesh scaffold (stent) is inserted into the blood vessel to help keep the artery open after the procedure. Platelets in the blood can clump around the procedure site, causing clots that can lead to heart attack, stroke, and death. Effient was studied in a 13,608-patient trial comparing it to the blood-thinning drug, Plavix (clopidogrel), in patients with a threatened heart attack or an actual heart attack who were about to undergo angioplasty