The Phase III THEMIS trial met its primary endpoint and demonstrated that Brilinta (ticagrelor), taken in conjunction with aspirin, showed a statistically-significant reduction in a composite of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) compared to aspirin alone.
THEMIS was conducted in over 19,000 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and type-2 diabetes (T2D) with no prior heart attack (myocardial infarction, MI) or stroke. Preliminary safety results were consistent with the known profile of Brilinta. A full evaluation of the THEMIS data will be presented at a forthcoming medical meeting.
Elisabeth Björk, Senior Vice President, Head of late Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism, R&D BioPharmaceuticals, said: “Approaches to help reduce cardiovascular morbidity further in patients with coronary artery disease and type-2 diabetes are urgently needed. The positive result from the THEMIS trial may offer a potential benefit for this high-risk patient population.”
Deepak L. Bhatt, MD, MPH, THEMIS co-Chair and Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Professor at Harvard Medical School said: “The THEMIS trial is the largest randomised trial of patients with type-2 diabetes performed to date and was designed to evaluate whether more-intense antiplatelet therapy is a promising approach. The results could help us refine our understanding of the role of dual antiplatelet therapy in patients across the atherothrombotic spectrum.”
Gabriel Steg, MD, THEMIS co-Chair and Professor at Université Paris-Diderot, Paris and Professor at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London said: “Patients who have both stable coronary artery disease and diabetes are a sizeable group which remains at particularly high risk of major adverse cardiac events. The optimal long-term antiplatelet therapy in that group is not fully established. We look forward to presenting the full results from the THEMIS trial later this year.”
About THEMIS
THEMIS (Effect of Ticagrelor on Health Outcomes in DiabEtes Mellitus Patients Intervention Study) is an AstraZeneca-sponsored, multi-national, randomised, double‑blinded trial in patients with CAD and T2D with no prior myocardial infarction or stroke. THEMIS was designed to test the hypothesis that Brilinta plus aspirin would reduce major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), a composite of CV death, myocardial infarction or stroke, in patients with CAD and T2D with no prior myocardial infarction or stroke, vs. aspirin alone. CAD was defined as a prior percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), bypass surgery or at least a 50% narrowing of a coronary artery.
The trial was initiated in early 2014, duration was event-driven across 42 countries and more than 19,000 patients were randomised in order to collect 1,385 independently-adjudicated primary endpoint events.
About Brilinta
Brilinta (ticagrelor) is an oral, reversible, direct-acting P2Y12 receptor antagonist that works by inhibiting platelet activation. Brilinta, together with aspirin, has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, stroke or CV death), in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or a history of MI.
Brilinta, co-administered with aspirin is indicated for the prevention of atherothrombotic events in adult patients with ACS, or for patients with a history of MI and a high risk of developing an atherothrombotic event.
