(Bloomberg) -- AstraZeneca Plc's heart medicine Brilinta didn't beat a generic blood-thinner in patients with peripheral artery disease, the latest blow to the drugmaker's ambitions for the treatment after it failed a test in March.
Brilinta was pitted against clopidogrel in a trial of almost 14,000 people in 28 countries, the largest test of its kind in patients with symptoms of the disease. The trial, dubbed Euclid, is part of a larger program that studies the effects of the drug in patients with peripheral artery disease and diabetes. The full results of the trial will be presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in New Orleans next month, the U.K. drugmaker said in a statement Tuesday.
Chief Executive Officer Pascal Soriot has called Brilinta critical to reaching at least $40 billion in annual revenue by 2023. The anti-clotting medicine is sold as a treatment after heart attacks, but AstraZeneca is conducting studies intended to expand the population of patients who can take the pill. Sales of Brilinta were $619 million last year. The company had forecast 2023 revenue of $3.5 billion, while analysts expect $1.1 billion that year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
AstraZeneca fell 0.7 percent to 5,007 pence at 8:03 a.m. in London. The shares have gained 8.7 percent this year.
In March, the company said Brilinta didn't outperform aspirin in a three-month-long test on preventing further attacks in patients who have suffered a stroke.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kristen Hallam in London at khallam@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chitra Somayaji at csomayaji@bloomberg.net, Naomi Kresge, Phil Serafino
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