According to a research conducted by the Uppsala Clinical Research Center in Sweden, the chances of fatality in heart patients can be reduced by nearly 20 percent if they are treated with a new drug, Brilinta, instead of the two widely used drugs -Plavix and warfarin.

The findings of the study - funded by the Brilinta maker AstraZeneca PLC - reported at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain, reveal that patients on Brilinta had a 4.5 percent death risk, vis-à-vis a 5.9 percent risk for patients on Plavix, the second-ranking drug made by US drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb and French Sanofi-Aventis.

To arrive at the conclusions of the study, spanning from 2006 to 2008, the researchers observed 18,624 heart patients worldwide. While 50 percent patients received Plavix to restrict blood-clotting, 50 percent were given Brilinta.

The researchers, led by Dr. Lars Wallentin, found that Brilinta - essentially a blood thinner whose generic name is ticagrelor, and is targeted at acute coronary syndrome (ACS) - was much more effective at preventing clots, heart attacks, strokes and death than Plavix.

Noting that Brilinta, which is not yet on the market, does not lead to any increase in the risk of dangerous bleeding, Dr. Douglas Weaver, ex-president of the American College of Cardiology, said that the drug – after due regulatory approval - “will become the new standard of care.”