The FDA's documents on AstraZeneca's
The overall data for Brilinta are fairly clear. The drug works better than Bristol-Myers Squibb
Tomorrow, the FDA will ask the panel of outside experts if they think the disparity was due to chance or some other factor that's unique to the U.S. -- a higher level of aspirin being prescribed, for instance. Doctors could then theoretically stop that practice to get results similar to those outside the U.S. Of course, the only way to know for sure would be to run another large clinical trial testing the hypothesis. One suggestion is that the study could be done after approval, which might be the reason for the excitement yesterday.
Even if AstraZeneca gets past the advisory committee tomorrow, and then the FDA by mid-September, it's still going to be an uphill battle for the company. Eli Lilly's
AstraZeneca needs a blockbuster to deal with looming patent expirations, but I don't think Brilinta is the gleaming light that's going to save the British drugmaker.
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