TRIPLEcheck™

The science under the hood

After a heart attack or stroke, antiplatelet drugs are routinely given to all patients to suppress platelet function and reduce the recurrence of heart attack or stroke, death or severe disability.

Antiplatelet drugs work in most patients, but are ineffective in some, putting patients at risk of another heart attack or stroke, and overly effective in other patients, leading to bleeding complications such as haemorrhagic stroke or gastrointestinal bleeding.

Ensuring patients are on optimal antiplatelet treatment as early as possible is recommended in NICE guidelines (NG185, NG128),, but this is not currently possible.

Platelet reactivity and, therefore, responsiveness to antiplatelet drugs are highly variable; however, unlike other risk factors, such as blood pressure or cholesterol levels, platelet reactivity is not routinely measured. Our inability to routinely measure platelet function and optimise antiplatelet therapy represents a major health challenge and a leading cause of death globally.

Our mission is to change this.

During or immediately after a heart attack or stroke, it is difficult to accurately measure platelet function, which is altered by the acute condition and the treatments the patients receive.

We have therefore developed TRIPLEcheck™ (see below)

TRIPLEcheck™ uses stable biomarkers to predict platelet reactivity without the need to perform platelet function tests. Its use will enable clinicians to stratify patients to the correct antiplatelet medication, based on platelet reactivity, substantially reducing the recurrence of heart attack or stroke, and severe bleeding complications.