AstraZeneca has submitted a New Drug Application with the FDA for its investigational oral antiplatelet therapy ticagrelor (Brilinta®) for the reduction of major adverse cardiac events in patients with acute coronary syndrome. The filing includes data from the 18,624-patient PLATO study, the phase III head-to-head trial comparing ticagrelor plus aspirin with clopidogrel plus aspirin (see NeLM link). Ticagrelor is the first in a new class of drugs, the CPTPs (cyclo-pentyl-triazolo-pyrimidines) and is chemically distinct from the thienopyridines. It was filed for approval with regulators in Europe in October 2009.