Pascal pushes AZ to push Brilinta in diabetes
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
AstraZeneca's re-announcement on 5 December that it will open two new large trials of its commercially less-than-brilliant antiplatelet drug Brilinta (ticagrelor) is further evidence that the company is responding to stinging public criticism from its still untarnished CEO Pascal Soriot. In the company's latest attempt to put the drug back on commercial track, Brilinta (Brilique or Possia outside the US) will be tested in two sets of high cardiovascular risk patients representing hundreds of millions of patients worldwide – type 2 diabetics, on the one hand, and those who have suffered non-fatal ischemic disease on the other. In the diabetes trial, the fact that ticagrelor will go head-to-head with aspirin suggests that AstraZeneca may be willing to be aggressive in combatting the aspirin contraindication that Brilinta/Brilique currently carries.