CardioExchange Archive

CardioExchange, an NEJM practice community for medical professionals dedicated to improving cardiac patient care, was active from 2009 to 2015. CardioExchange fostered discussion between clinicians from across the globe.

March 24th, 2012

Novel Antiplatelet Agent Reduces CV Events But Increases Bleeding

Vorapaxar, the novel antiplatelet agent from Merck, appears to effectively reduce cardiovascular death and ischemic events in patients with MI, ischemic stroke, or peripheral vascular disease, but its potential utility is clouded by bleeding complications, including intracranial hemorrhage. Results from the TRA 2P-TIMI 50 (Thrombin Receptor Antagonist in Secondary Prevention of Atherothrombotic Ischemic Events) trial were presented in Chicago on Saturday at the American College of Cardiology and published simultaneously in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Results of TRA 2P-TIMI 50 were broadly consistent with those from the TRACER trial (published last November in the New England Journal of Medicine), which tested the same drug in patients with acute coronary syndromes. In that trial also, vorapaxar effectively reduced negative outcomes but at the cost of an increase in serious bleeding complications. Earlier optimism over the drug had been greatly reduced in January 2011, when the combined data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) for the two trials halted TRACER and curtailed TRA 2P-TIMI 50.

TRA 2P-TIMI 50 randomized 26,449 patients with a history of MI, ischemic stroke, or peripheral arterial disease to either vorapaxar or placebo in addition to standard therapy. Because of an increased risk of intracranial hemorrhage in patients with a history of stroke, at 2 years the DSMB stopped treatment with vorapaxar in patients with a history of stroke.

At 3 years, the rate of cardiovascular death, MI, or stroke was significantly reduced by vorapaxar, but there were also more bleeding events associated with the drug:

9.3% in the vorapaxar group versus 10.5% in the placebo group (HR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.80-0.94; P<0.001)

  • CV death: 2.7% vs. 3.0% (HR, 0.89; P=0.15)
  • MI: 5.2% vs. 6.1% (HR, 0.83; P=0.001)
  • Stroke: 2.8% in both groups

Moderate or severe bleeding: 4.2% with vorapaxar versus 2.5% with placebo (HR, 1.66; P<0.001)

  • Intracranial bleeding: 1% vs. 0.5% (HR, 1.94; P<0.001)

The investigators reported that in the subgroup of patients with a qualifying diagnosis of MI, vorapaxar caused a 20% reduction in the primary endpoint. In light of the heightened risk for stroke patients, the investigators also performed a separate analysis of patients without a history of stroke and found “a significant benefit” in this subgroup.

In an ACC press release, lead investigator David Morrow said: “In the lab, we have seen very compelling science showing the importance of thrombin’s action on platelets causing blood clots in arteries. This is the first study to show definitively that blocking this pathway reduces the risk of suffering another cardiovascular event.”

Categories: General, Prevention
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One Response to “Novel Antiplatelet Agent Reduces CV Events But Increases Bleeding”

  1. Adelmo Gomes Machado, Master says:
    March 24, 2012 at 8:04 pm

    There is always a temptation to use the latest work in our first patient .. And this is normal, since we are always looking for the best result with less morbidity and mortality, as soon as the lower risk.
    But more than three decades of medical practice have taught us that more than fifty percent of them after their full incorporation into the daily prescription
    medical, just disused or abandoned, in view of the rise of highly undesirable side effects .. __ Dabigatram xWarfafin / AAS + x Clopidroguel Vorapar? ……. Well, only the time will give us those answers. Till then we are as cautious as possible.