Ticagrelor
Also sold as: Brilinta
Related Medications
These drugs share a pharmacologic classification but are NOT interchangeable. Listing here does not imply clinical equivalence. A physician must evaluate each drug individually for the patient's specific condition.
Classification: Decreased Platelet Aggregation (source: RxClass/NLM)
- ticlopidineDecreased Platelet AggregationSame Class
- dipyridamoleDecreased Platelet AggregationSame Class
- tirofibanDecreased Platelet AggregationSame Class
- eptifibatideDecreased Platelet AggregationSame Class
- cangrelorP2Y12 Platelet InhibitorSame Class
- clopidogrelP2Y12 Platelet InhibitorSame Class
- prasugrelP2Y12 Platelet InhibitorSame Class
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Drug Information
Mechanism of Action
12.1 Mechanism of Action Ticagrelor and its major metabolite reversibly interact with the platelet P2Y 12 ADP-receptor to prevent signal transduction and platelet activation. Ticagrelor and its active metabolite are approximately equipotent.
Indications & Uses
1 INDICATIONS AND USAGE Ticagrelor is a P2Y 12 platelet inhibitor indicated to reduce the risk of cardiovascular (CV) death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or a history of myocardial infarction (MI). For at least the first 12 months following ACS, it is superior to clopidogrel. Ticagrelor tablets also reduces the risk of stent thrombosis in patients who have been stented for treatment of ACS. ( 1.1 ) to reduce the risk of a first MI or stroke in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) at high risk for such events. While use is not limited to this setting, the efficacy of ticagrelor was established in a population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). ( 1.2 ) to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with acute ischemic stroke (NIH Stroke Scale score ≤5) or high-risk transient ischemic attack (TIA). ( 1.3 ) 1.1 Acute Coronary Syndrome or a History of Myocardial Infarction Ticagrelor tablets are indicated to reduce the risk of cardiovascular (CV) death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or a history of MI. For at least the first 12 months following ACS, it is superior to clopidogrel. Ticagrelor tablets also reduces the risk of stent thrombosis in patients who have been stented for treatment of ACS [see Clinical Studies ( 14.1 )]. 1.2 Coronary Artery Disease but No Prior Stroke or Myocardial Infarction Ticagrelor tablets are indicated to reduce the risk of a first MI or stroke in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) at high risk for such events [see Clinical Studies ( 14.2 )]. While use is not limited to this setting, the efficacy of ticagrelor was established in a population with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 1.3 Acute Ischemic Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) Ticagrelor tablets are indicated to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with acute ischemic stroke (NIH Stroke Scale score ≤5) or high-risk transient ischemic attack (TIA) [see Clini
Dosage & Administration
2 DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ACS or History of MI Initiate treatment with 180 mg oral loading dose of ticagrelor tablets. Then administer 90 mg twice daily during the first year. After one year, administer 60 mg twice daily. ( 2.2 ) Patients with CAD and No Prior Stroke or MI Administer 60 mg ticagrelor tablets twice daily. ( 2.3 ) Acute Ischemic Stroke Initiate treatment with a 180 mg loading dose of ticagrelor tablets then continue with 90 mg twice daily for up to 30 days. ( 2.4 ) Use ticagrelor tablets with a daily maintenance dose of aspirin of 75 to 100 mg. ( 2 ) However, in patients who have undergone PCI, consider single antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor tablets based on the evolving risk for thrombotic versusbleeding events. ( 2.2 ) 2.1 General Instructions Advise patients who miss a dose of ticagrelor tablets to take their next dose at its scheduled time. For patients who are unable to swallow tablets whole, ticagrelor tablets can be crushed, mixed with water, and drunk. The mixture can also be administered via a nasogastric tube (CH8 or greater) [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )]. Do not administer ticagrelor tablets with another oral P2Y 12 platelet inhibitor. Avoid aspirin at doses higher than recommended [see Clinical Studies ( 14.1 )]. 2.2 Acute Coronary Syndrome or a History of Myocardial Infarction Initiate treatment with a 180 mg loading dose of ticagrelor tablets. Administer the first 90 mg maintenance dose of ticagrelor tablets, 6 to 12 hours after the loading dose. Administer 90 mg of ticagrelor tablets twice daily during the first year after an ACS event. After one year, administer 60 mg of ticagrelor tablets twice daily. Initiate ticagrelor tablets with a daily maintenance dose of aspirin of 75 mg to 100 mg. However, in patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), consider single antiplatelet therapy with ticagrelor tablets based on the evolving risk for thrombotic versus bleeding events [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1) and Clinical Studies ( 14 )]. 2.3 Coronary Artery Disease but No Prior Stroke or Myocardial Infarction Administer 60 mg of ticagrelor tablets twice daily. Generally, use ticagrelor tablets with a daily maintenance dose of aspirin of 75 mg to 100 mg [see Clinical Studies ( 14 )]. 2.4 Acute Ischemic Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) Initiate treatment with a 180 mg loading dose of ticagrelor tablets and then continue with 90 mg twice daily for up to 30 days. Administer the first maintenance dose 6 to 12 hours after the loading dose. Use ticagrelor tablets with a loading dose of aspirin (300 mg to 325 mg) and a daily maintenance dose of aspirin of 75 mg to 100 mg [see Clinical Studies ( 14 )].
Side Effects (Adverse Reactions)
6 ADVERSE REACTIONS The following adverse reactions are also discussed elsewhere in the labeling: •Bleeding [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] •Dyspnea [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.3 )] Most common adverse reactions (>5%) are bleeding and dyspnea. ( 5.1 , 5.3 , 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Inc., at 1-888-375-3784 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088or www .fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Ticagrelor has been evaluated for safety in more than 58,000 patients. Bleeding in PLATO (Reduction in risk of thrombotic events in ACS) Figure 1 is a plot of time to the first non-CABG major bleeding event. Figure 1- Kaplan-Meier estimate of time to first non-CABG PLATO-defined major bleeding event (PLATO) Frequency of bleeding in PLATO is summarized in Tables 1 and 2. About half of the non-CABG major bleeding events were in the first 30 days. Table 1 - Non-CABG related bleeds (PLATO) Ticagrelor * N=9235 Clopidogrel N=9186 n (%) patients with event n (%) patients with event PLATO Major + Minor 713 (7.7) 567 (6.2) Major 362 (3.9) 306 (3.3) Fatal/Life-threatening 171 (1.9) 151 (1.6) Fatal 15 (0.2) 16 (0.2) Intracranial hemorrhage (Fatal/Life-threatening) 26 (0.3) 15 (0.2) PLATO Minor bleed: requires medical intervention to stop or treat bleeding. PLATO Major bleed : any one of the following: fatal; intracranial; intrapericardial with cardiac tamponade; hypovolemic shock or severe hypotension requiring intervention; significantly disabling (e.g., intraocular with permanent vision loss); associated with a decrease in Hb of at least 3 grams/dL (or a fall in hematocrit (Hct) of at least 9%); transfusion of 2 or more units. PLATO Major bleed, fatal/life-threatening: any major bleed as described above and associated with a decrease in Hb of more than 5 grams/dL (or a fall in hematocrit (Hct) of at least 15%); transfusion of 4 or more units. Fatal: A bleeding event that directly led to death within 7 days. * 90 mg BID No baseline demographic factor altered the relative risk of bleeding with ticagrelor compared to clopidogrel. In PLATO, 1,584 patients underwent CABG surgery. The percentages of those patients who bled are shown in Figure 2 and Table 2. Figure 2 – ‘Major fatal/life-threatening’ CABG-related bleeding by days from last dose of study drug to CABG procedure (PLATO) X-axis is days from last dose of study drug prior to CABG. The PLATO protocol recommended a procedure for withholding study drug prior to CABG or other major surgery without unblinding. If surgery was elective or non-urgent, study drug was interrupted temporarily, as follows: If local practice was to allow antiplatelet effects to dissipate before surgery, capsules (blinded clopidogrel) were withheld 5 days before surgery and tablets (blinded ticagrelor) were withheld for a minimum of 24 hours and a maximum of 72 hours before surgery. If local practice was to perform surgery without waiting for dissipation of antiplatelet effects capsules and tablets were withheld 24 hours prior to surgery and use of aprotinin or other haemostatic agents was allowed. If local practice was to use IPA monitoring to determine when surgery could be performed both the capsules and tablets were withheld at the same time and the usual monitoring procedures followed. T Ticagrelor; C Clopidogrel. Table - 2 CABG-related bleeding (PLATO) Ticagrelor* N=770 Clopidogrel N=814 n (%) patients with event n (%) patients with event PLATO Total Major 626 (81.3) 666 (81.8) Fatal/Life-threatening 337 (43.8) 350 (43.0) Fatal 6 (0.8) 7 (0.9) PLATO Major bleed: any one of the following: fatal; intracranial; intrapericardial with cardiac tamponade; hypovolemic shock or severe hypotension requiring intervention; significantly disabling (e.g., intraocular with permanent vision loss); associated with a decrease in Hb of at least 3 grams/dL (or a fall in hematocrit (Hct) of at least 9%); transfusion of 2 or more units. PLATO Major bleed, fatal/life-threatening: any major bleed as described above and associated with a decrease in Hb of more than 5 grams/dL (or a fall in hematocrit (Hct) of at least 15%); transfusion of 4 or more units. * 90 mg BID When antiplatelet therapy was stopped 5 days before CABG, major bleeding occurred in 75% of ticagrelor treated patients and 79% on clopidogrel. Other Adverse Reactions in PLATO Adverse reactions that occurred at a rate of 4% or more in PLATO are shown in Table 3. Table 3 – Percentage of patients reporting non-hemorrhagic adverse reactions at least 4% or more in either group and more frequently on ticagrelor (PLATO) Ticagrelor* N=9235 Clopidogrel N=9186 Dyspnea 13.8 7.8 Dizziness 4.5 3.9 Nausea 4.3 3.8 * 90 mg BID Bleeding in PEGASUS (Secondary P
Drug Interactions
7 DRUG INTERACTIONS • Avoid use with strong CYP3A inhibitors or CYP3A inducers. ( 7.1 , 7.2 ) • Opioids: Decreased exposure to ticagrelor. Consider use of parenteral anti-platelet agent. ( 7.3) • Patients receiving more than 40 mg per day of simvastatin or lovastatin may be at increased risk of statin-related adverse effects. ( 7.4 ) • Rosuvastatin plasma concentrations may increase. Monitor for statin-related adverse effects. ( 7.4 ) • Monitor digoxin levels with initiation of or any change in ticagrelor. ( 7.5 ) 7.1 Strong CYP3A Inhibitors Strong CYP3A inhibitors substantially increase ticagrelor exposure and so increase the risk of dyspnea, bleeding, and other adverse events. Avoid use of strong inhibitors of CYP3A (e.g., ketoconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole, clarithromycin, nefazodone, ritonavir, saquinavir, nelfinavir, indinavir, atazanavir and telithromycin) [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )] . 7.2 Strong CYP3A Inducers Strong CYP3A inducers substantially reduce ticagrelor exposure and so decrease the efficacy of ticagrelor. Avoid use with strong inducers of CYP3A (e.g., rifampin, phenytoin, carbamazepine and phenobarbital) [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3) ]. 7.3 Opioids As with other oral P2Y 12 inhibitors, co-administration of opioid agonists delay and reduce the absorption of ticagrelor and its active metabolite presumably because of slowed gastric emptying [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)]. Consider the use of a parenteral anti-platelet agent in acute coronary syndrome patients requiring co-administration of morphine or other opioid agonists. 7.4 Simvastatin, Lovastatin , Rosuvastatin Ticagrelor increases serum concentrations of simvastatin and lovastatin because these drugs are metabolized by CYP3A4. Avoid simvastatin and lovastatin doses greater than 40 mg [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )]. Ticagrelor increases serum concentration of rosuvastatin because rosuvastatin is a BCRP substrate [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )]. 7.5 Digoxin Ticagrelor inhibits the P-glycoprotein transporter; monitor digoxin levels with initiation of or any change in ticagrelor therapy [see Clinical Pharmacology ( 12.3 )].
Contraindications
4 CONTRAINDICATIONS • History of intracranial hemorrhage. ( 4.1 ) • Active pathological bleeding. ( 4.2 ) • Hypersensitivity to ticagrelor or any component of the product. ( 4.3 ) 4.1 History of Intracranial Hemorrhage Ticagrelor tablets are contraindicated in patients with a history of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) because of a high risk of recurrent ICH in this population [see Clinical Studies ( 14.1 ) ,( 14.2 )]. 4.2 Active Bleeding Ticagrelor tablets are contraindicated in patients with active pathological bleeding such as peptic ulcer or intracranial hemorrhage [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 ) and Adverse Reactions (6.1 )]. 4.3 Hypersensitivity Ticagrelor tablets are contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity (e.g., angioedema) to ticagrelor or any component of the product.
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Medical Disclaimer: Information on this page is sourced from FDA-approved labeling data and is for educational reference only. It does not constitute medical advice. This information does not establish a provider-patient relationship. Always verify with current prescribing information and consult a licensed healthcare professional before any clinical decision. Read full disclaimer.
Data sourced from RxNorm (NLM/NIH), FDA Orange Book, OpenFDA, DailyMed. Last updated: 2026-03-02.