A 30 Day Study to Evaluate Efficacy and Safety of Pre-hospital vs. In-hospital Initiation of Ticagrelor Therapy in STEMI Patients Planned for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)

The aim of this study is to determine whether initiation of ticagrelor as early as in the ambulance setting leads to a rapid reperfusion of the infarct-related artery therefore facilitating the Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) and optimizing the outcome for the patient. The study will assess the efficacy and safety of pre-hospital compared to in-hospital administration of ticagrelor in co-administration with aspirin, on restoring the blood flow in the occluded heart artery and improving the myocardial perfusion in patients suffering from myocardial infarction and planned to have a PCI. Patients can be randomised in either one of the 2 arms: re-hospital ticagrelor arm: Patients will receive a loading dose of 180 mg ticagrelor for the pre-hospital administration and placebo for in-hospital administration. or In-hospital ticagrelor arm: Patients will receive a placebo for pre-hospital administration and 180 mg ticagrelor loading dose for in-hospital administration. Patients are initially managed by ambulance physician/personnel in pre hospital settings. They are then transferred into a Catheterization room to undergo a PCI. After the administration of the loading dose of ticagrelor (double blind), patients will continue on ticagrelor 90 mg bid and be followed in study for 30 days post randomisation.