Medicure announces approval of recommended dosing regimen for Aggrastat

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Medicure Inc. ("Medicure" or the "Company") (TSXV:MPH, OTC:MCUJF.PK), is pleased to announce that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the AGGRASTAT (tirofiban HCl) high-dose bolus (HDB) regimen, as requested under Medicure's supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA). The AGGRASTAT HDB regimen (25 mcg/kg over 3 minutes, followed by 0.15 mcg/kg/min) now becomes the recommended dosing for the reduction of thrombotic cardiovascular events in patients with non-ST elevated acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS).

The ability of the AGGRASTAT HDB regimen to achieve >90% platelet aggregation inhibition within 10 minutes is seen as an important feature by interventional cardiologists in settings where rapid platelet inhibition is required for coronary intervention. The HDB regimen has been evaluated in more than 30 clinical studies totaling over 8,000 patients, and is recommended by the ACCF/AHA/SCAI guidelines.

"We are pleased with the FDA approval of the AGGRASTAT HDB regimen", stated Dr. Albert D. Friesen, CEO of Medicure Inc. "The inclusion of the contemporary, guideline-recommended dosing regimen for AGGRASTAT is expected to have a positive impact on sales over the coming months."

AGGRASTAT currently has a 2% share of the approximately $300 million US glycoprotein (GP) IIb/IIIa inhibitor market, but continues to be the leading GP IIb/IIIa inhibitor outside of the US where the Aggrastat HDB regimen has already been approved. The Company is currently enrolling patients in the SAVI-PCI study, which compares the Aggrastat HDB regimen against Integrilin® (eptifibatide) (Merck & Co., Inc.), which has annual US sales of greater than $230 million.

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