Less of Schering-Plough clot drug works

By Kim Dixon

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A commonly used clot-preventing drug works just as well with a significantly smaller dose than the standard amount, and may result in less bleeding in most patients, according to a study released on Sunday.

The findings, if adopted in widespread practice, could significantly cut treatment costs, according to researchers who conducted the 624-patient study presented at the American Heart Association's annual scientific meeting in Orlando.

"If a shorter infusion is as good as the standard, then it will save several hundred dollars per patient, shorten the hospital stay and may result in less bleeding complications," Anthony Fung, director of cardiac catheterization at Vancouver General Hospital and lead investigator of the study said.

About 800,000 people undergo angioplasty each year in the United States, according to the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions. An 18-hour dose of the drug costs about $450 at Fung's hospital; shortening the dose could cut that cost by $300, he said.

The study had no industry funding. Schering-Plough Corp sells the drug, eptifibatide, under the brand name Integrilin.

Patients who undergo angioplasty -- a procedure to clear clogged arteries that involves placing a wire-mesh device called a stent to prop the open the cleared vessel -- are often infused with eptifibatide to prevent blood from clotting.

Doctors tried using less of the drug on patients whose procedure went well without major complications. The patients made up about two-thirds of the original candidates identified for the study, implying that the same proportion of all angioplasty patients may possibly benefit from using a smaller dose of the drug, Fung said.

They compared patients getting a standard 18-hour infusion of the drug to another group getting a short course of treatment of less than two hours.

Complication rates of major side effects, such as injury to the heart, heart attacks within 30 days after the angioplasty, and the need for further surgery were similar in both groups, researchers said.

In addition, major bleeding was less frequent in the group infused for a shorter period.

Schering-Plough reported third-quarter Integrilin sales of $78 million, down 4 percent from a year earlier.

If this study leads to a change in the standard of care for patients undergoing such procedures, Integrilin sales would likely fall even further.

(Additional reporting by Bill Berkrot in New York)