According to the American Heart Association, over 80 million Americans have one or more types of cardiovascular disease. Of these, 16 million Americans suffer from coronary heart disease (CHD), the largest major killer of Americans.1

Each year, approximately 15 million people suffer from stroke worldwide.
  • In 2005, approximately 5.9 million Americans suffered from stroke.
  • Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States.
  • Each year, about 780,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke; about 600,000 of these are first attacks and 180,000 are recurrent attacks.1,2
  • In Europe, there are approximately 650,000 stroke deaths each year.2

With the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular and neurovascular disease, antiplatelet agents are widely prescribed to prevent ischemic events.

1) Aspirin
Today, there are approximately 50 million Americans on chronic aspirin therapy3, making it the most commonly prescribed medication for the prevention of life threatening vascular events such as heart attacks and strokes. Worldwide, aspirin generates a revenue of $800 million annually.4
2) Clopidogrel
Marketed under tradenames Plavix® and Iscover®, over 25 million prescriptions are written annually for Plavix, making it the second largest selling drug in America.5
3) Glyocoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitors
Abciximab/ReoPro® and eptifibatide/Integrilin® are frequently used during percutaneous coronary interventions.


Since up to one third of patients may not respond adequately to their antiplatelet medications, assessing patients’ response to these antiplatelet medications is crucial to improving patient care.
  • Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2008 Update-At-A-Glance. American Heart Association and American Stroke Association. 2008.
  • World Health Report - 2007, from the World Health Organization; International Cardiovascular Disease Statistics (2007 Update), a publication from the American Heart Association.
  • Pignone, M, et al. Aspirin Use Among Adults Aged 40 and Older in the United States Results of a National Survey. Am J Prev Med 2007;32(5):403–407
  • DataMonitor. Antithrombotics Report. December 2008.
  • Safety of Plavix Under Review. Wall Street Journal. January 26,2009.