Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

>I believe that anticoagulants is the superclass for antiplatelets…<

People often speak that way—and they call both classes of drugs “blood thinners”—but this is sloppy usage insofar as the antiplatelet drugs have little if any effect on the coagulation cascade.

>I have not yet figured out whether we really know whether one of these subclasses is better than others for different indications. E.g. Evidence is mixed whether aspirin works to prevent DVT but it does work for prevention of MI.<

The antiplatelet drugs—e.g. aspirin, Plavix, Ticlid, Persantine, ReoPro, Integrilin, LLY’s prasugrel, and SGP’s TRA—are effective in preventing arterial thrombosis, where platelet aggregation plays a major role in the formation of blockages. These drugs have much less utility in preventing DVT, where blockages consist mostly of fibrin clots rather than platelets.