Eptifibatide (Ept)

Eptifibatide is a cyclic heptapeptide derived from a protein found in the venom of the southeastern pygmy rattlesnake. It belongs to the class of the so-called arginin-glycin-aspartat-mimetics and reversibly binds to platelets. Eptifibatide is used to reduce the risk of acute cardiac ischemic events in patients with unstable angina or non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction both in patients who are to receive non surgery medical treatment and those undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Eptifibatide was licensed due to the positive results of the so called PURSUIT study encompassing 10,948 patients. In this study all patients had suffered either unstable angina or a non-ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction. Significantly fewer patients developed a myocardial infarction under therapy with eptifibatide. Death rates showed a tendency in favour of eptifibatide, but this superiority was not statistically significant.