Prasugrel
Daiichi Sankyo discovered prasugrel with our Japanese research partner, Ube Industries and developed it in collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company. Prasugrel is an oral antiplatelet agent that prevents blood clots. In 2009, we launched it as Effient® in the United States and as Efient® in Europe to prevent atherothrombotic events (causing inflammation of the arteries) in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). To date, prasugrel has been approved in more than 70 countries around the world.
In Japan, we launched Efient® for the treatment of patients with ischemic heart disease undergoing PCI in May 2014, and are currently conducting a phase 3 study on patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease (when a blood vessel becomes blocked).