A new study suggests the generic test will not help physicians determine if patients should get Plavix, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In the recent findings from 32 studies that involved about 42,000 patients, gene variant patients did not reveal a significantly increased rate for heart attack and stroke.

In 2010, FDA gave a boxed warning to Plavix that the drug has the reduced effectiveness in preventing heart attacks in patients with a certain gene variant. About 30 percent of the US population has the gene variant.

Plavix, also known as clopidogrel, is the most prescribed anti-coagulant drug used to treat blood clot and prevent heart disease and stroke.

Fast Facts of Plavix
• $5.4 Billion of Plavix sales in the first three quarters of 2011
• $6.7 Billion in global sales in 2010
• About 40 million people take the drug worldwide
• Second biggest selling drug after Lipitor

Generic version of Plavix is available when the brand expires in 2011. Some researcher thinks the generic testing may help physician choose between generic Plavix and the new rival drug Effient. More information, read the full article: Doubt Cast on Use of Genetic Test Before Plavix.

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This entry was posted on Friday, December 30th, 2011 at 9:03 pm and is filed under Plavix. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.