Inspire Pharmaceuticals has launched a Phase II trial to evaluate Inspire's drug candidate, INS50589 Antiplatelet, in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery utilizing a cardiopulmonary bypass pump.

INS50589 is a selective and reversible inhibitor of the platelet P2Y12 adenosine diphosphate receptor. The trial is a randomized, double-blind comparison of three doses of INS50589 to placebo by intravenous infusion in approximately 160 subjects undergoing CABG surgery at approximately 20 clinical centers across the U.S.

There are multiple objectives of this dose-ranging trial, including measuring the reduction of postoperative bleeding and need for transfusions and monitoring the incidence of complications after surgery.