Charles V. Pollack, MD, is a clinician-scientist and consultant headquartered in Philadelphia with substantial experience in research and clinical trials. Charles V. Pollack, MD has led and assisted drug development programs for many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and has published his work on more than 500 occasions including multiple appearances in the New England Journal of Medicine and other major medical journals.
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is one of the world’s foremost medical periodicals and online resources. For more than 200 years, NEJM has earned a reputation for publishing high-quality peer-reviewed research and interactive clinical information that has served the worldwide medical community.
Dr. Pollack was an investigator in a NEJM trial of platelet suppression with cangrelor in patients having percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). PCI, or percutaneous coronary intervention, is a non-surgical treatment that allows care providers to restore the normal flow of blood throughout a patient’s body by opening restricted or blocked coronary arteries.
Platelet inhibition, meanwhile, is the process of using medication to reduce the ability of blood platelets to stick together, thereby reducing the risk of blood clot formations. The study determined that cangrelor, a nonthienopyridine adenosine triphosphate analogue, did not perform better than clopidogrel, an antiplatelet medication designed to reduce the risk of serious blood clot formations and related health complications (including heart attacks and strokes) in patients living with heart disease or who have already experienced heart attacks or strokes.
Dr. Pollack also worked on a cangrelor study involving intravenous (IV) platelet blocking during PCI. During intravenous platelet blocking, medical professionals use IV methods to directly administer platelet inhibitors. Researchers wanted to determine whether cangrelor, when administered intravenously, could lower the risk of ischemic events during PCI. Results showed that the use of periprocedural cangrelor had a comparable impact to the placebo, and had no notable influence on the rate of transfusion.
In 2015, Dr. Pollack worked on an indarucizumab study published in NEJM. Idarucizumab is a reversal agent for dabigatran, an anticoagulant medication. The study, which was also shared via the National Institutes of Health, confirmed the reversal agent’s ability to rapidly and completely reverse the anticoagulant effect of dabigatran. The drug proved effective in up to 98 per cent of cases, typically within minutes of administration. Two years later, he returned to NEJM to publish further results on idarucizumab as a dabigatran reversal agent.
More recently, Dr. Pollack co-authored a study about antibody-based ticagrelor as a reversal agent. Patients living with acute coronary syndromes or who have experienced myocardial infarction can use ticagrelor in conjunction with aspirin as a method to reduce the likelihood of ischemic events. The study determined that, in healthy volunteers, the reversal agent PB2452 provides immediate and long-term relief from ticagrelor’s antiplatelet effects.
Dr. Pollack has contributed several additional letters and replies that have appeared in NEJM, along with publications in peer-reviewed publications such as the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the Journal of Intensive Care Medicine. In addition to his history of publication with the journal, Dr. Pollack spent three years as a member of the editorial board for Weekly Briefings from the New England Journal of Medicine. More information about the journal is available online at nejm.org.
