AstraZeneca and Boehringer present bloodthinner alternatives

AstraZeneca (AZN) has long hoped that its blood-thinner drug Brilinta was going to become a blockbuster. From the looks of things, the company may gets its wish.

Back in May, the pharmaceutical company announced that its experimental heart drug Brilinta was more effective than Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's (BMY) blockbuster Plavix in the prevention of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks. However, as I mentioned at the time, concerns about side effect remained.