AstraZeneca Hits Milestone In Global Brilinta Trial

AstraZeneca reported that it has achieved completion of patient enrollment ahead of schedule by about four months in the Phase III clinical trial EUCLID. EUCLID will investigate Brilinta (ticagrelor) tablets in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD).

EUCLID (examining use of tiCagreLor in peripheral artery disease) is part of PARTHENON, AstraZeneca’s largest clinical program. The trial will assess the effects of ticagrelor monotherapy against clopidogrel monotherapy on cardiovascular events in PAD patients as well as safety. EUCLID has randomized over 13,500 patients with PAD worldwide, with around 20% of patients located in the U.S. from over 300 active clinical trial sites across the country.

William Hiatt, Professor of Medicine of the division of cardiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and CPC Clinical Research, and EUCLID study chair, said “We are very excited to have completed enrollment in the EUCLID study ahead of schedule. This study will provide important information regarding the use of oral antiplatelet agents in peripheral artery disease. PAD affects approximately 202 million people globally and 8.5 million people in the US. Patients living with the disease are at high risk for developing myocardial infarctions, strokes, and other health complications.”

Recruitment and enrollment for the two additional Phase III trials SOCRATES and THEMIS is also underway in the U.S. THEMIS study co-chair Deepak Bhatt, executive director of interventional cardiovascular programs at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart and Vascular Center, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said “Of the approximately 26 million people in the US who suffer from diabetes, over 90% have Type 2 diabetes– and nearly two-thirds of them will die from cardiovascular disease. The THEMIS study will explore the use of ticagrelor in patients with diabetes, and hopes to provide new scientific evidence to guide appropriate treatment for these high-risk patients, with all of their associated comorbidities.”

The company said it remains fully committed to broader exploration of the drug’s potential for additional high-risk clinical circumstances.