Person:

Braunwald, Eugene

Background: Vorapaxar is a protease‐activated receptor‐1 antagonist approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with a history of myocardial infarction (MI) and peripheral artery disease (PAD), without a previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Methods and Results: We examined the efficacy and safety of vorapaxar in the intended use population, considering 20 170 patients randomized in the multinational, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled TRA 2°P‐TIMI 50 trial. Of these, 16 897 qualified with a history of MI in the prior 2 weeks to 1 year and 3273 with PAD. At baseline 97% of the patients were treated with aspirin, 71% with a thienopyridine, and 93% a statin. At 3 years, the endpoint of CV death, MI, or stroke was significantly reduced with vorapaxar compared with placebo (7.9% versus 9.5%, HR, 0.80; 95% CI 0.73 to 0.89; P<0.001). Vorapaxar also significantly reduced the composite of CV death, MI, stroke, and urgent coronary revascularization (10.1% versus 11.8%, HR, 0.83; 95% CI 0.76 to 0.90; P<0.001), as well as the rate of CV death or MI (P<0.001). The safety endpoint of GUSTO moderate or severe bleeding, was increased in the vorapaxar group (3.7 versus 2.4, HR, 1.55; 95% CI 1.30 to 1.86, P<0.001). Intracranial bleeding (ICH) was 0.6% versus 0.4%, P=0.10 with vorapaxar versus placebo, with fatal bleeding 0.2% versus 0.2%; P=0.70. Conclusions: In patients with prior MI or PAD who have not had a previous stroke or TIA, vorapaxar added to standard therapy is effective for long‐term secondary prevention of thrombotic CV events, while increasing moderate or severe bleeding. Clinical Trial Registration URL: clinicaltrials.gov Unique Identifier: NCT00526474.

Background— Vorapaxar reduces cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction (MI), or stroke in patients with previous MI while increasing bleeding. Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at high risk of recurrent thrombotic events despite standard therapy and may derive particular benefit from antithrombotic therapies. The Thrombin Receptor Antagonist in Secondary Prevention of Atherothrombotic Ischemic Events-TIMI 50 trial was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of vorapaxar in patients with stable atherosclerosis. Methods and Results— We examined the efficacy of vorapaxar in patients with and without DM who qualified for the trial with a previous MI. Because vorapaxar is contraindicated in patients with a history of stroke or transient ischemic attack, the analysis (n=16 896) excluded such patients. The primary end point of cardiovascular death, MI, or stroke occurred more frequently in patients with DM than in patients without DM (rates in placebo group: 14.3% versus 7.6%; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.47; P<0.001). In patients with DM (n=3623), vorapaxar significantly reduced the primary end point (11.4% versus 14.3%; hazard ratio, 0.73 [95% confidence interval, 0.60–0.89]; P=0.002) with a number needed to treat to avoid 1 major cardiovascular event of 29. The incidence of moderate/severe bleeding was increased with vorapaxar in patients with DM (4.4% versus 2.6%; hazard ratio, 1.60 [95% confidence interval, 1.07–2.40]). However, net clinical outcome integrating these 2 end points (efficacy and safety) was improved with vorapaxar (hazard ratio, 0.79 [95% confidence interval, 0.67–0.93]). Conclusions— In patients with previous MI and DM, the addition of vorapaxar to standard therapy significantly reduced the risk of major vascular events with greater potential for absolute benefit in this group at high risk of recurrent ischemic events. Clinical Trial Registration— URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00526474.

Background: IMPROVE‐IT (Improved Reduction of Outcomes: Vytorin Efficacy International Trial) showed that adding the nonstatin ezetimibe to statin therapy further reduced cardiovascular events in patients after an acute coronary syndrome. In a prespecified analysis, we explore results stratified by sex. Methods and Results: In IMPROVE‐IT, patients with acute coronary syndrome and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol of 50 to 125 mg/dL were randomized to placebo/simvastatin 40 mg or ezetimibe/simvastatin 10/40 mg. They were followed up for a median of 6 years for the primary composite of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, hospitalization for unstable angina, coronary revascularization ≥30 days, and stroke. Among 18 144 patients in IMPROVE‐IT, 4416 (24%) were women. At 12 months, the addition of ezetimibe to simvastatin significantly reduced low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol from baseline compared with simvastatin monotherapy in men and women equally (absolute reduction, 16.7 mg/dL in men and 16.4 mg/dL in women). Women receiving ezetimibe/simvastatin had a 12% risk reduction over those receiving placebo/simvastatin for the primary composite end point (hazard ratio, 0.88; 95% confidence interval, 0.79–0.99) compared with a 5% reduction for men (hazard ratio, 0.95; 95% confidence interval, 0.90–1.01; P=0.26 for interaction). When the total number of primary events was considered, women had an 18% reduction with the addition of ezetimibe (relative risk, 95% confidence interval, 0.81; 0.71–0.94) and men had a 6% reduction (relative risk, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.87–1.02; P=0.08 for interaction). The addition of ezetimibe did not increase the rates of safety events in either women or men. Conclusions: IMPROVE‐IT demonstrated that the benefit of adding ezetimibe to statin is present in both women and men, with a good safety profile supporting the use of intensive, combination, lipid‐lowering therapy to optimize cardiovascular outcomes. Clinical Trial Registration URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00202878.