Zacks_Analysts' Blog : Medicines Co.'s Angiomax Promising - Analyst Blog

Medicines Co. (MDCO) yesterday presented encouraging results from its landmark HORIZONS-AMI study on anti-clotting drug, Angiomax. The company stated that treatment with Angiomax resulted in improved survival rates in patients who had suffered from the most severe form of heart attack and received angioplasty.

Approximately 3,600 patients with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the most severe form of acute heart attack, and undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), commonly known as angioplasty, were studied in the trial. Patients were randomized to receive Angiomax with provisional use of a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (GPI) or heparin plus a GPI.

Results showed that Angiomax reduced cardiac-related death by 43%, improved overall survival by 27% and reduced major bleeding complications by 39%, compared to the standard of care. Angiomax showed an absolute reduction of 1.7% in cardiac-related death and 1.3% in all-cause death at one year.

The one-year data also supported previously reported results. The Medicines Company has been very active in presenting encouraging clinical results on Angiomax. Favorable clinical results have helped the product gain share in the unstable/stable angina and mild-to-moderate non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (nSTEMI) markets.

The company clearly demonstrated Angiomax’s superiority to heparin, the standard anticoagulant used in the U.S. There are several characteristics like ease of use, rapid onset of action, safety, and cost effectiveness that make Angiomax the superior drug.

Management’s aim is to continue to increase PCI market share in 2009. Results from the HORIZONS-AMI study should provide Medicine Co.’s sales force with additional information for promoting Angiomax which is the company’s lead product. Angiomax, exclusively licensed from Biogen Idec, Inc. (BIIB), is used as an anticoagulant in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty.

Currently indicated for use in unstable angina patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), Angiomax has the potential to be used for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), and peripheral artery disease (PAD).