Summary
The priority task to develop better and safer antiplatelet agents is difficult to
overestimate. In fact, oral antiplatelet agents, such as aspirin in ISIS-2 study,
and clopidogrel in COMMIT mega trial in moderate doses are among the very few classes
of drugs, which lead to the absolute mortality reduction benefit in patients after
acute vascular thrombotic events. Prasugrel is an experimental thienopyridine, and
irreversible antagonist of ADP P2Y12 receptor leading to inhibition of platelet activation and aggregation. The recent
TRITON trial, assessing head-to-head prasugrel versus standard of care clopidogrel,
both on top of aspirin, reveals numerous controversies with regard to the trial design,
definition of events, interpretation of the results, and suitability of the high maintenance
prasugrel dose for chronic preventive human use. We critically review various aspects
of prasugrel development, focusing on the discrepancies between claims and achievements.
We conclude that the benefits of prasugrel are overestimated, and the risks, especially
during chronic use are underestimated. Very careful maintenance-dose selection with
the main focus on long-term safety profile for the new agents will become a key to
success for the future oral antiplatelet drug development.
Keywords
Antiplatelet agents - atherothrombosis - clinical trials