Antiplatelet therapy: focus on evidence-based therapy with clopidogrel

Acute coronary syndromes are the leading cause of mortality and one of the main reasons for hospital admissions in the developed nations. Due to high rates of mortality and reinfarction, acute coronary syndromes represent a major public health concern. Clopidogrel has a strong evidence base supporting its use as an effective and well-tolerated antiplatelet agent for the secondary prevention of ischemic events in patients with various cardiovascular conditions, including acute coronary syndrome, and is ubiquitous in cardiology practice. Landmark studies have established the importance of clopidogrel in the treatment of non-ST and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and in percutaneous coronary interventions, where it was shown to reduce death, reinfarction, and adverse cardiac events. Zyllt (Krka’s clopidogrel) also has an esta- blished evidence base from many post-authorisation clinical studies demonstrating its efficacy and safety. These studies yielded important results and an extensive database, which is not available for any other generic clopidogrel.