The FDA has given the green light to Zontivity to decrease the the risk of heart attack and stroke in high-risk patients.

Zontivity is an anti-platelet agent designed to lower the proclivity of platelets to clump together to form a blood clot. By lowering the formation of blood clots, the new drug lowers the risk of heart attack and stroke.

“In patients who have had a heart attack or who have peripheral arterial disease, this drug will lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death. In the study that supported the drug’s approval, Zontivity lowered this risk from 9.5 percent to 7.9 percent over a 3-year period – about 0.5 percent per year,” posited Ellis Unger, M.D., director of the Office of Drug Evaluation I in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Like similar drugs that prevent blood clotting, Zontivity raises the risk of bleeding. Bleeding is the most frequently reported adverse reaction in individuals taking Zontivity. The FDA says doctors should tell patients that they may bleed and bruise more easily when taking Zontivity.