Hope for heart patients: AstraZeneca launches antiplatelet drug BRILINTA (Ticagrelor) in India
Bangalore: AstraZeneca Pharma India (AZPIL) announced the launch of a new patented antiplatelet drug BRILINTA (Ticagrelor) in India. BRILINTA is an oral antiplatelet treatment for Acute Coronary Syndromes (ACS) in adult patients. BRILINTA is competitively priced to enable ACS patients benefit from having access to this medicine.
BRILINTA works by preventing the formation of new blood clots and maintaining blood flow in the body to help reduce patient's risk of another cardiovascular event (called atherothrombotic events) such as a heart attack or cardiovascular death. Until date, BRILINTA has been approved in 83 countries and launched in 63 countries (including India now) under the trade name BRILINTA and in the European Union under the trade name BRILIQUE.
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), based on the New Drug Advisory Committee's (NDAC) recommendations granted its approval in May 2012 for marketing BRILINTA (Ticagrelor) tablets in India.
The DCGI approval is based upon the submission of data from the landmark PLATO (Platelet Inhibition and Patient Outcomes) trial, comparing treatment with BRILINTA to Clopidogrel - the current standard of care, available in the market for over a decade.
Dr Paurus Irani, VP, medical and regulatory affairs of AstraZeneca Pharma India, said that, "With over 40 lakh people affected by ACS in India each year, BRILINTA gives cardiologists a new and effective treatment to help reduce the rate of heart attack and cardiovascular deaths in these patients. Such exciting medical breakthroughs don't happen very often."
