Two New Antiplatelet Drugs for Angioplasty and Acute Coronary Syndromes

Two new platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists have been approved for marketing by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Eptifibatide (ep ti fi' ba tyde; Integrilin - Cor, Key) is approved for use in acute coronary syndromes (unstable angina or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction) or percutaneous coronary intervention (angioplasty or atherectomy). Tirofiban (tye roe fye' ban; Aggrastat - Merck) is approved for acute coronary syndromes, but not for angioplasty without an acute coronary syndrome. Abciximab (ReoPro), a monoclonal antibody glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor antagonist marketed earlier (Medical Letter, 37:52, 1995) is approved and widely used for coronary angioplasty and approved for treatment of unstable angina when angioplasty or atherectomy is planned within 24 hours. All of these drugs are given intravenously (IV), generally with aspirin and low doses of heparin....

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