Vytorin combines Zocor with a newer drug called Zetia that adds additional cholesterol-lowering oomph.
Two cholesterol-lowering drugs sold only by prescription were in lower doses considered for over-the-counter sale.
The study, called Prove-It, should spur many cardiologists to put many more people on cholesterol-lowering medicines.
Vytorin combines Zetia with Zocor in a combo pill to get an even bigger cholesterol-lowering wallop.
An FDA review raises a number of potentially significant safety concerns about the cholesterol-lowering drug mipomersen.
The selling point of Vytorin is that you Zetia boosts the cholesterol-lowering potency of statins.
That makes them the third best-selling class of drugs, after cholesterol-lowering agents and ulcer meds.
Merck is now beginning to market Vytorin, which combines Zocor with another cholesterol-lowering drug.
The cholesterol-lowering studies pose similar dilemmas for doctors and patients hoping to keep costs down.
The adults in the chocolate study were initially screened for separate research on cholesterol-lowering drugs.
Most already were taking cholesterol-lowering statins, aspirin and other medicines to lower their chances of heart problems.
Dr Bosetti said there was some evidence suggesting cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may help protect against prostate cancer.
Most approved cholesterol-lowering drugs belong to a class of medicines called statins, which work in the liver.
The company's sales are dominated by its Glucophage franchise, which treats diabetes, and by Pravachol, a cholesterol-lowering drug.
Does a failed trial of Pfizer's cholesterol-lowering pill Lipitor make the rival drug Vytorin look better by comparison?
The NCEP did not release an estimate of how many patients should now take cholesterol-lowering drugs, called statins.
T67 was originally discovered by two Tularik scientists, Julio Medina and Bei Shan , as a cholesterol-lowering drug.
For the past decade, cholesterol-lowering drugs have been one of the biggest growth drivers in the pharmaceutical industry.
Because LDL cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, it's the main focus of cholesterol-lowering treatment.
Lipitor and other cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins are already a mainstay of treating people with bad hearts.
This was considered important because Kynamro is intended for long-term treatment in order to maintain the cholesterol-lowering effect.
FORBES: CHMP Recommends Against Approval For Mipomersen In Europe
Besides being Pfizer's own drug, Lipitor is also the most widely used cholesterol-lowering medicine by a wide margin.
Lipitor and Crestor, from AstraZeneca, are simply more powerful cholesterol-lowering drugs, he says, and some patients will need them.
Existing cholesterol-lowering pills like Lipitor and AstraZeneca's Crestor reduce the risk of heart attack by at least a third.
The first of these cholesterol-lowering medicines, Merck 's Mevacor, was approved in 1987.
Doctors knew that high-powered cholesterol-lowering drugs like Lipitor, called statins, cut the chance of heart attacks by about one-third.
Vytorin gets extra cholesterol-lowering oomph by combining Zocor with a newer drug, Zetia.
And of course on the mornings I was taking Vicodin, I was deprived of the cholesterol-lowering benefit of my statin.
By itself, Zetia is far less powerful than the cholesterol-lowering medicines known as statins, such as Zocor, Lipitor and Pravachol.
"It's extremely beneficial to have one of the more powerful cholesterol-lowering medicines as part of your drug lineup, " Hazlett says.
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