(RTTNews) - Medicines Co. (MDCO: News ). Friday said the European Union's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use or CHMP has recommended Angiox for extended use to include patients with heart attacks undergoing emergency heart procedures known as primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

The CHMP recommendation is based on the HORIZONS-AMI study, which was the first drug trial to demonstrate a reduction in deaths from heart attacks in patients undergoing emergency PCI.

The HORIZONS-AMI trial compared Angiox to heparin plus a GPI in 3,602 patients presenting with the most severe form of heart attack, known as STEMI, undergoing a emergency PCI.

The trial showed that patients treated with Angiox compared with today's leading treatment - heparin plus a platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor - were more likely to survive and had less frequent severe bleeds.
The European panel's positive opinion for the Angiox is applicable to all Member States of the European Union/European Economic Area.

Angiox is currently approved for use in Europe as an anticoagulant in adult patients undergoing PCI and for the treatment of adult patients with unstable angina/non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction planned for urgent or early intervention. Angiox is to be administered with aspirin and clopidogrel.

MDCO is currently trading at $8.72, down 32 cents or 3.54%.

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by RTT Staff Writer

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