GLOBAL LEADERS: A Clinical Study Comparing Two Forms of Anti-platelet Therapy After Stent Implantation

After a stent procedure, it is common practice to prescribe anti-platelet medication to prevent the blood from clotting. The main objective of this study is to determine if there is a better medication strategy to prevent blood from clotting and at the same time minimising the number of complications.

There are two medication strategies:

* Study group: Dual anti-platelet therapy (ticagrelor combined with aspirin) for 1 month, and then ticagrelor alone for another 23 months OR
* Control group: Standard treatment, being dual anti-platelet therapy (ticagrelor or clopidogrel combined with aspirin) for 12 months, and then aspirin alone indefinitely

The study objective is to determine in all-comers patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) under standardised treatment (including the BioMatrix family of drug-eluting stents and bivalirudin), whether treatment with 1 month of ticagrelor and aspirin followed by 23 months of ticagrelor monotherapy is superior with respect to the composite of all-cause mortality or non-fatal new Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) compared to treatment with 12 months of standard dual anti platelet therapy (DAPT) followed by aspirin monotherapy.

The study design is an investigator-initiated, prospective randomised, multi-centre, multi-national, open-label trial to be conducted in approximately 60-80 interventional cardiology centres in Europe, North America, South America and Asia-Pacific. Patients will be randomised at a 1:1 ratio to study or reference treatment strategy.

Randomisation will occur at the time of the index procedure prior to PCI. Subjects will be stratified according to centre and according to the clinical presentation (Stable Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) vs. Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS)).

All patients will be followed for a period of 2 years.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

-"All comer" patients

1. Age ≥18 years;
2. Presence of one or more coronary artery stenoses of 50% or more in a native coronary artery or in a saphenous venous or arterial bypass conduit suitable for coronary stent implantation. The vessel should have a reference vessel diameter of at least 2.25 mm (no limitation on the number of treated lesions, vessels, or lesion length);
3. Able to provide informed consent and willing to participate in 2 year follow- up period.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Known intolerance to aspirin, P2Y12 inhibitors, bivalirudin, stainless steel or biolimus;
2. Known intake of a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor (e.g., ketoconazole, clarithromycin, nefazodone, ritonavir, and atazanavir), as co-administration may lead to a substantial increase in exposure to ticagrelor;
3. Known moderate to severe hepatic impairment (alanine-aminotransferase ≥ 3 x ULN);
4. Planned surgery, including coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) as a staged procedure (hybrid) within 12 months of the index procedure, unless dual antiplatelet therapy is maintained throughout the peri-surgical period;
5. Need for chronic oral anti-coagulation therapy;
6. Active major bleeding or major surgery within the last 30 days;
7. Known history of intracranial haemorrhagic stroke or intra-cranial aneurysm;
8. Known stroke (any type) within the last 30 days;
9. Known pregnancy at time of randomisation;
10. Female who is breastfeeding at time of randomisation;
11. Currently participating in another trial and not yet at its primary endpoint.