Antiplatelet therapy displays a critical role in the treatment and prevention of antithrombotic disorders. Many new antiplatelet agents have been developed following the emergence of various clinical limitations of classical antiplatelet drugs. This review covers mainly the recent advances in the development of P2Y12 antagonists and GPIIb/IIIa antagonists. Meanwhile, it summarizes promising approaches to new platelet surface receptors such as prostanoid EP3 receptor, thromboxane A2 prostanoid receptor, protease-activated receptors, GPIb-IX-V receptor and P-selectin. In addition, PI3Kβ, a critical protein at the inside signaling pathway of platelet activation is also mentioned as an important antiplatelet target. Moreover, the development of respective drug candidates is discussed in detail.
Keywords: antagonists; antiplatelet agents; antithrombus; bleeding risk; development; platelet activation; platelet surface receptor.