AstraZeneca (Photo : Reuters)
AstraZeneca's new drug Brilinta can significantly reduce the chances of another stroke, heart attack and even death itself after a clinical trial on Saturday.
However, consumption of the blood-thinner from AstraZeneca still has some risks.
Marc Sabatine, a trial researcher from the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said that long term use of the drug can still lead to more bleeding, but the benefits still outweigh the risks.
Additionally, the clinical trial for Brilinta showed that there was no fatal bleeding from AstraZeneca's tablets, according to Reuters.
Still, some are skeptical about the drug's potential. John Keaney from UMMS (University of Massachusetts Medical School), who was not linked to the research, said that AstraZeneca's blood-thinner can prevent 42 cardiovascular attacks, but it can also be the cause for 31 major bleeding events annually for every 10,000 patients.
Currently, aspirin alone is used to prevent blood clots for heart attack patients. Brilinta would open up a key opportunity for AstraZeneca to profit.
AstraZeneca, who recently took a stand against Pfizer's takeover bid in 2014, has the potential to make $1.5 billion from Brilinta by 2020, some analysts estimated.
The England-based pharmaceutical company said that the Brilinta trial was its largest ever with 21,000 patients who participated.
Patients who were on 60mg of Brilinta and Aspirin still suffered from cardiovascular attacks by 7.77 percent, compared to 9.04 percent for aspirin-only takers, which translates to a 16 percent in relative risk reduction.
Sabatine said that the findings from the Brilinta trial was very consistent across the study's factors, Diabetes Insider reported.
"We know medicines like Brilinta and low-dose aspirin help lower the risk over a year or so, but this study confirms that continuing dual anti-clotting therapy for up to three years is helpful," Sabatine commented on AstraZeneca's new drug.
