Statin News and Research

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Statins are drugs used to lower cholesterol. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your blood, it can stick to the walls of your arteries, narrowing or even blocking them.

Cost paid for statins 400% higher in the U.S. than U.K.

In the United States, the cost paid for statins (drugs to lower cholesterol) in people under the age of 65 who have private insurance is approximately 400 percent higher than comparable costs paid by the government in the United Kingdom.

6 Jan 2012

First study to elucidate how statins reduce activation of abnormal blood clotting

People with high cholesterol are at risk of heart attack and stroke because atherosclerotic plaques within their arteries can rupture triggering the formation of a blood clot called an occlusive thrombus that cuts off the blood supply to their heart or brain.

5 Jan 2012

Positive preliminary results from Alnylam's Phase I ALN-PCS trial on severe hypercholesterolemia

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced today the achievement of positive preliminary results from its ongoing clinical trial of ALN-PCS, an RNAi therapeutic targeting PCSK9 for the treatment of severe hypercholesterolemia.

5 Jan 2012

Faulty lipid metabolism may cause MS, says forensic anthropologist

An article to be published in the December 2011 issue of The Quarterly Review of Biology argues that multiple sclerosis, long viewed as primarily an autoimmune disease, is not actually a disease of the immune system.

23 Dec 2011

Statins linked with reduced risk of death among hospitalized flu patients

The two main ways to prevent and control influenza today are annual immunization and antiviral drugs. A team of investigators has found that statins, cholesterol-lowering drugs, may offer an additional treatment to complement these approaches and reduce mortality among patients hospitalized with influenza.

14 Dec 2011

Breakthrough advance in tackling dangerous 'bad' cholesterol in the body

Scientists from the University of Leicester and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have announced a breakthrough advance in tackling dangerous 'bad' cholesterol in the body.

9 Dec 2011

Assembly Bill 5502-B would raise cost of many prescriptions in NY by 10%

Assembly Bill 5502-B—transmitted to Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday—would needlessly raise the cost of many prescriptions in New York by 10 percent, according to the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. If enacted, the Bill would prohibit consumers from getting discounted prescriptions through mail-service pharmacies.

2 Dec 2011

Lipitor going generic, Pfizer making deals to keep consumers

The popular cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor goes off-patent today. Manufacturer Pfizer planned ahead, making agreements with some insurers to keep covering the drug.

1 Dec 2011

Ranbaxy receives FDA approval for first generic version of cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic version of the cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor.

30 Nov 2011

Optimal approach to treat patients without known coronary disease much less clear

In a contemporary cohort of acute heart attack patients, 70 percent of the patients were unaware they had coronary heart disease (CHD) prior to the event and 60 percent of those patients were women or young men.

17 Nov 2011

Cholesterol drugs clash head on

Major cholesterol lowering drugs are being pitched against each other. The cheaper ones are more likely to win say experts.

16 Nov 2011

Niacin not effective in reducing risk of stroke, heart attack in stable CV patients

In patients whose bad cholesterol is very well-controlled by statins for a long time period, the addition of high-dose, extended release niacin did not reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, including heart attack and stroke.

16 Nov 2011

Evacetrapib drug may increase HDL-C and decrease LDL-C levels

Among patients with sub-optimal low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels, use of the drug evacetrapib alone or in combination with statin medications was associated with significant increases in HDL-C levels and decreases in LDL-C levels, according to a study appearing in the November 16 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on cardiovascular disease.

16 Nov 2011

Type 2 diabetics with low cholesterol may carry residual risk of cardiac events

LipoScience, Inc., an in-vitro diagnostic company advancing patient care in cardiovascular, metabolic and other diseases using an innovative and proprietary platform based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology, recognizes a presentation of clinical data which suggests that type 2 diabetics with low non-HDL and low LDL cholesterol may carry residual risk of a cardiac event based on high LDL particle numbers.

16 Nov 2011

A shot to lower 'bad' cholesterol

Patients unable to control their cholesterol levels with medications may someday be able to lower their "bad" cholesterol with a shot, according to research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2011.

14 Nov 2011

Merck’s cholesterol lowering drug gets FDA panel’s vote

A health advisors’ panel have unanimously backed the use of Merck & Co's cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin for preventing stroke and other heart problems in patients with chronic kidney disease, but only in those patients not yet on dialysis. The panel voted 16-0 during a meeting today in Silver Spring, Maryland.

3 Nov 2011

FDA EMDAC votes to recommend approval of Merck's VYTORIN for pre-dialysis CKD

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) unanimously voted to recommend approval of Merck's VYTORIN (ezetimibe/simvastatin) for use in patients with pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease.

3 Nov 2011

VUMC doctors to begin statin drug screening for rare genetic variation

Vanderbilt University Medical Center doctors announced today they will begin screening patients who take commonly prescribed statin drugs for a rare genetic variation that can increase risks for side effects from these drugs such as muscle aches, kidney damage and even death.

29 Oct 2011

New drug could combat cardiovascular disease

A new therapy being studied in non-human primates by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and colleagues is demonstrating promise as a potential tool for combating cardiovascular disease by increasing good cholesterol and lowering triglycerides in the blood.

29 Oct 2011

Gut bacteria shown to affect statin efficacy in some people

The team led by a Duke University scientist has identified three bile acids produced by gut bacteria that were evident in people who responded well to a common cholesterol-lowering drug called simvastatin. The finding, published Oct. 13, 2011, in PLoS One, demonstrates how gut bacteria can cause inherent differences in the way people digest, metabolize and benefit from substances such as drugs.

17 Oct 2011