TY - JOUR TI - Salts of Clopidogrel: Investigation to Ensure Clinical Equivalence: A 12-Month Randomized Clinical Trial AU - Ntalas, Ioannis V. AU - Kalantzi, Kallirroi I. AU - Tsoumani, Maria E. and AU - Bourdakis, Adamantios AU - Charmpas, Christos AU - Christogiannis, AU - Zaharias AU - Dimoulis, Nikolaos AU - Draganigos, Antonios and AU - Efthimiadis, Ioannis AU - Giannakoulas, Giorgos AU - Giatrakos, Ioannis AU - and Giogiakas, Vassilios AU - Goumas, Giorgos AU - Hatziathanasiou, AU - Giorgos AU - Kazakos, Evangelos AU - Kipouridis, Nikolaos and AU - Konstantinou, Spiros AU - Milionis, Haralampos AU - Nikolopoulos, AU - Dimitrios AU - Peltekis, Leonidas AU - Prokopakis, Nikolaos AU - Sinteles, AU - Ioannis AU - Stroumbis, Christos AU - Terzoudi, Kyriafina AU - Thoma, Maria AU - and Tsilias, Karmelos AU - Vakalis, Ioannis AU - Vardakis, Konstantinos AU - and Vasilakopoulos, Vasileios AU - Vemmos, Konstantinos AU - Voukelatou, AU - Maria AU - Xaraktsis, Ioannis AU - Panagiotakos, Demosthenes B. and AU - Goudevenos, John A. AU - Tselepis, Alexandros D. JO - Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology and Therapeutics PY - 2016 VL - 21 TODO - 6 SP - 516-525 PB - SAGE Publications Inc. SN - 1074-2484, 1940-4034 TODO - 10.1177/1074248416644343 TODO - clopidogrel besylate; coronary artery disease; generic clopidogrel; peripheral artery disease; carotid artery disease; stroke TODO - Background: In the present clinical trial, we compared the efficacy and safety of the generic clopidogrel besylate (CB) with the innovator clopidogrel hydrogen sulfate (CHS) salt in patients eligible to receive clopidogrel. Methods: A prospective 2-arm, multicenter, open-label, phase 4 clinical trial. Consecutive patients (n = 1864) were screened and 1800 were enrolled in the trial and randomized to CHS or CB. Primary efficacy end point was the composite of myocardial infarction, stroke, or death from vascular causes, and primary safety end point was rate of bleeding events as defined by Bleeding Academic Research Consortium criteria. Results: At 12-month follow-up, no differences were observed between CB (n = 759) and CHS (n = 798) in primary efficacy and safety end points (age, sex, history of percutaneous coronary intervention adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41-1.21 and OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.51-1.29, respectively) between CHS and CB. Analyses of efficacy and safety in subgroups that were defined according to the qualifying diagnosis revealed that there was no difference between CHS and CB. Conclusion: The efficacy and safety of CB administered for 12 months for the secondary prevention of atherothrombotic events are similar to that of CHS. ER -