Washington, June 14: A new drug has boosted hopes of preventing at least one out of five deaths caused due to a heart attack, currently being treated with the traditional drug clopidogrel.

Robert Storey, Professor of Cardiology at the University of Sheffield''s Department of Cardiovascular Science has found that ticagrelor is more effective in reducing deaths and recurrent heart attacks than clopidogrel.

"Many people are dying avoidably in the year after having a heart attack due to delays introducing this new treatment. These new findings provide yet further evidence in support of making the drug available to patients in the UK,” said Storey.

A new analysis of the PLATO study, a trial of over 18 thousand patients in over 40 countries around the world showed that ticagrelor is just as effective at reducing deaths in patients over the age of 75 as in younger patients.