Blood Thinner's Approval Expanded to Include Most Severe Heart Attack

FRIDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given expanded approval to the Sanofi-Aventis drug Lovenox to treat the most severe form of heart attack, the drug maker said Friday.

The blood thinner's new approval is for people with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), a severe heart attack that generally occurs when a blood clot completely blocks an artery, causing heart damage.

In clinical testing involving more than 20,000 acute STEMI patients, the rate of death and recurrent heart attack was reduced by 17 percent, compared to people who hadn't taken the drug, Sanofi said in a statement.

Lovenox has received prior FDA approval to treat deep vein thrombosis, unstable angina and a form of heart attack called non Q wave myocardial infarction.

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