Fresh concerns have emerged about the platelet studies underpinning the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of ticagrelor, AstraZeneca’s multibillion-dollar heart drug, after a new BMJ investigation revealed data discrepancies, missing lab readings, and questions about the integrity of the trial process.
Notably, key results reported in a major cardiology journal were inaccurately presented, and some study contributors were omitted or denied involvement.
With generics on the horizon, critics say these revelations highlight potential dangers, including severe rebound effects and bleeding risks, that were never properly disclosed.
For more than a decade, ticagrelor (Brilinta in the US and Brilique in Europe) has been recommended for patients with acute coronary syndrome – a range of conditions related to sudden reduced blood flow to the heart.
Last December, an investigation by The BMJ found serious data integrity problems in the landmark clinical trial (PLATO) that was used to gain worldwide approval for ticagrelor, calling into question the drug's advantage over cheaper rivals.
Now, as generic versions of the drug prepare to launch this year, The BMJ has expanded its investigation, looking at two key platelet studies that AstraZeneca claimed explained ticagrelor’s ability to treat acute coronary syndrome successfully.
It finds that the “primary endpoint” results (the trial’s key measurement) for both clinical trials were inaccurately reported in the leading cardiology journal Circulation, and that more than 60 of 282 readings from platelet machines used in the trials were not present in FDA datasets.
What’s more, one active trial investigator never became a study author, while one author told The BMJ he was not involved in the trial, and most investigators, including the principal investigator, were unreachable or declined to be interviewed.
Victor Serebruany, an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University and ticagrelor's most renowned critic, told The BMJ: “There are episodes of skyrocketing rebound and profound platelet inhibition after ticagrelor, making patients prone to thrombosis or bleeding. If doctors had known what happened in these trials, they would never have started using ticagrelor.”
Circulation and AstraZeneca did not respond to a request for comment.
Serebruany added: “It’s been obvious for years that there is something wrong with the data. That the FDA’s leadership could look past all of these problems – on top of the many problems their own reviewers identified and are now being discovered by The BMJ – is unconscionable. We all need to know how and why that happened.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
For patients with diabetes, ticagrelor reduced heart attacks, strokes
Anti-platelet medication with aspirin
Two-medicine regime after stenting safer than current regime