The Medicines Company said that updated treatment guidelines presented as part of the European Society of Cardiology annual congress in Munich this week recommend the use of bivalirudin, trade name Angiox in Europe and Angiomax in North America and Asia, over heparin and a GP IIb/ IIIa blocker in the management of a severe form of heart attack called ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction, or STEMI. The guidelines were developed by a 23 member expert Task Force on Myocardial Revascularization of the European Society of Cardiology and provide recommendations for the management of heart attack patients from diagnosis to treatment, and are used by health care teams across Europe. Bivalirudin was recognized by the expert panel as having both the highest strength of recommendation and level of evidence from clinical research of any intravenous antithrombotic listed in the updated guidelines, according to The Medicines Company.
Investors were edgy Wednesday ahead of the appearance of U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke before lawmakers …