Cangrelor for the treatment of arterial thrombosis: pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics and clinical data

INTRODUCTION: Dual antiplatelet therapy is the standard of care for patients with acute coronary syndromes or with recent coronary stents implantation. P2Y12 receptor antagonists have shown to reduce the risk of recurrent ischemic events among these patients, at the expense of an increased risk of bleeding. Cangrelor is a novel, intravenous, short-acting, reversible platelet P2Y12 inhibitor, which has been evaluated for the treatment of arterial thrombosis. AREAS COVERED: Studies on the pharmacological characteristics of cangrelor and clinical trials were retrieved by a PubMed literature search. EXPERT OPINION: Cangrelor has been tested in patients with coronary artery diseases undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention and as bridging therapy for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft. The rapid peak of action allows a fast and complete inhibition of platelet aggregation; the rapid offset is advantageous in case of bleeding complications; and finally, the intravenous administration also makes this drug suitable for patients unable to consume oral medications. Unfortunately, the large clinical trials evaluating cangrelor in percutaneous coronary intervention did not show superiority to the standard antiplatelet therapy, and its future use in this setting still needs to be better assessed. Conversely, when used as bridging therapy to coronary artery bypass graft, cangrelor showed promising results.