Crestor can decrease the chances of heart disease

Posted on March 2, 2010

Summary: Statins are already some of the most widely-prescribed drugs in the world. They work to lower the levels of the ‘bad’ cholesterol LDL.

The cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor has received approval to be offered to people who have no obvious signs of heart disease.

Astra-Zeneca, who make the drug, now have the go-ahead from the Federal Food and Drug Administration to market the medication at people who have normal or slightly raised cholesterol levels. This group have historically been considered to beat low risk of developing heart disease.
A large trial into the new statin, named Jupiter, was carried out. In total, it involved 18,000 people,, who had normal or near-normal cholesterol levels, but raised levels of C-reactive protein, which indicated bodily inflammation. Astra-Zeneca say that raised protein levels can be an early sign of cardiovascular disease.

The trial showed that Crestor can significantly decrease the chances of a patient dying from heart disease or a stroke even if they do not have raised cholesterol. Those patients taking a 20mg dose of the drug experienced a 54% reduction in the risk of their experiencing a heart attack, a 48% drop in their chances of suffering a stroke and a 46% decrease in the likelihood of their having to undergo arterial revacularization.

Since the results from the trial were announced in 2008, Astra-Zeneca have been eager to use them to make a case for their cholesterol reduction medication being of benefit to a wider group of patients that those currently eligible for statin treatment.

The FDA warned prescribing doctors however to “interpret the results of the Jupiter trial with caution” and that the results do “not support the use of Crestor in all patients with elevated (CRP)>

Statins are already some of the most widely-prescribed drugs in the world. They work to lower the levels of the ‘bad’ cholesterol LDL. When there are high levels of LDL cholesterol in the blood, this can cause fatty deposits known as plaques to build up in the blood vessels of the heart, preventing blood from flowing to the organ. This can cause heart attacks, stroke and heart disease. Cholesterol reduction therefore reduces morbidity.

Since the news was announced, shares in the drug company rose by 1.5%. Market forecasters have estimated that sales of Crestor could reach $6.5 billion by 2013, a rise of $4.5 billion since since 2009. The sales will make it the most profitable drug AstraZeneca have on their portfolio, offsetting to some degree lost revenue from when patents on some of their other medications expire.

There have however been suggestions that sales might not be as high as predicted, due to the impending arrival of cheaper generic versions of the statin Lipitor, manufactured by Pfizer, when its patent runs out in 2011.

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