These results are probably the biggest breakthrough in the treatment of coronary heart disease, since the introduction of aspirin in the 1980's

Dr Marcus Flather

Cutting costs

But doctors say the new treatment, of one clopidogrel and one aspirin tablet, could mean an extra lease of life for the daily cost of just �1 a day.

Plavix, which was co-developed by Sanofi-Synthelabo and Bristol-Myers Squibb, has been available in the UK since 1998 for patients with coronary heart disease.

But the study showed patients suffering from unstable angina or a suspected heart attack recovered best when the drug was combined with aspirin.

The drug costs as little as �1 a day

Scientists from the Clinical Trials and Evaluation Unit (CTEU) at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Trust teamed up with colleagues from McMaster University, Canada to study 12,000 patients from 28 countries.

'Dramatic benefits'

Dr Marcus Flather, a cardiologist at the Royal Brompton said: "These results are probably the biggest breakthrough in the treatment of coronary heart disease, the UK's number one killer, since the introduction of aspirin in the 1980's.

"Clopidogrel taken with aspirin will provide dramatic benefits to a wide range of patients.

"The beauty of it all is that it's just a simple treatment, all patients need do is take a single tablet every day.

"We hope that in the future the results can be used for most people with coronary heart disease."

Dr Ameet Bakhai, from the CTEU said: "It really is a magnificent breakthrough."

Belinda Linden, of the British Heart Foundation, said it was important the drugs benefits were carefully assessed before use.

She said: "Although this is good news for many people, there are other ways to treat acute coronary syndrome and both aspirin and clopidogrel have some side effects.

"The benefits of using this therapy must be weighed against the potential risks in each individual case."

The results are due to be published in The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine.

But in an accompanying commentary in the Lancet, Dr Rod Stables, of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital and the Cardiothoracic Centre questioned the long term benefits of clopidogrel for people who had invasive treatments such as balloon angioplasty.