Merck/Schering-Plough: Vytorin lowers 'bad' cholesterol better than Crestor

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., June 19 - Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals said results from a new clinical study that included 2,855 patients with high cholesterol showed that Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) was significantly more effective than Crestor (rosuvastatin) in reducing LDL "bad" cholesterol across all study dose comparisons, 52% to 61% for Vytorin 10/20 mg to 10/80 mg and 46% to 57% for Crestor 10 mg to 40 mg.

In addition, both Vytorin and Crestor raised HDL "good" cholesterol by 8%, averaged across all doses studied.

The primary endpoint of the study was LDL cholesterol reduction from baseline averaged across all doses. Key secondary endpoints included LDL cholesterol reductions from baseline at each dose comparison.

With the results of this study, Vytorin now has been shown in clinical studies to provide greater LDL cholesterol lowering efficacy versus Zocor (simvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin) and Crestor (rosuvastatin) at all study dose comparisons, the company said in a news release.

In a post-hoc subgroup analysis of 715 high-risk patients included in the study, the results revealed that Vytorin, as a result of greater LDL cholesterol reduction, helped significantly more high-risk patients achieve an LDL cholesterol of less than 70 mg/dL and less than 100 mg/dL compared to patients taking Crestor (50% versus 29% and 90% versus 82%, respectively) averaged across the doses studied.

"In this study, Vytorin was significantly more effective than Crestor in reducing LDL cholesterol and averaged across the doses in attaining an LDL cholesterol goal of less than 100 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol of less than 70 mg/dL in high-risk patients," said Michael Davidson, the director of preventive cardiology at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

The results were presented Monday at the International Symposium on Atherosclerosis in Rome.

Merck/Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals is a joint venture between Merck & Co., Inc. and Schering-Plough Corp. formed to develop and market in the United States new prescription medicines in cholesterol management.

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