All GLG News Analyses Filed Under: Cardiology
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
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December 8, 2008
The A-Z trial showed that Zocor was not any more effective at 80 mg than 40,only more side effects Lipitor is not on most formularies and is not generic We should expand our statin use to the best outcomes and not price
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December 8, 2008
Generic Heart Drugs as Good as Brand-Name Counterparts | www.washingtonpost.com
Generic heart drugs have equal therapeutic index as their brand counterparts
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Simvastatin sell will remain as such
December 8, 2008
Lipitor and Simvastatin sell will compete each other based on doctor prescription and patient poplulation.
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December 5, 2008
CRESTOR Demonstrates Dramatic CV Risk Reduction in a Large Statin Outcomes Study | www.astrazeneca.com
The findings of the Jupiter trial will not only boost the use of rosuvastatin as an evidence-based therapy, but also the prescription of C-Reactive protein, with probably high benefits for companies selling CRP assays.
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December 5, 2008
The results of this observational study suggested Lipitor was more effective than simvastatin. This is not terribly surprising. Lipitor is the more potent statin, even allowing for dosing differences. Observational studies, however, have inherent weaknesses in that we cannot be sure that the patients were really comparable between the two treatments. Notably an even more potent statin, Crestor (rosuvastatin) was not included in the analysis. Given Pfizer's ferocious marketing engine, this study is likely to be heavily promoted by Pfizer, and its importance exaggerated.
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Giuseppe Biondi-ZoccaiAssistant Professor of Cardiology University of Turin
December 5, 2008
Generic Heart Drugs as Good as Brand-Name Counterparts | www.washingtonpost.com
Generic drugs are cheaper equivalent of brand-name (aka proprietary) drugs which become available after a specific drug patent expires. There is ongoing debate whether generic drugs are as safe and as effective as their brand-name counterparts. Recent evidence from a comprehensive review published in the authoritative Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that generic drugs for heart disease are as safe and as effective as the corresponding proprietary drugs. Thus, given their lower cost, generic drugs may progressively reduce the market share of brand-name drugs, especially whenever a proprietary drug is very expensive or its market position depends only on monopoly rather than effective branding and marketing.
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December 5, 2008
This is an interesting analysis that may be scientifically flawed (because it was based on observational data that is subject to selection, medication compliance and comorbidity biases). It may encourage some prescribers to use Lipitor rather than simvastatin. However, that propensity may continue to be swamped by the administrative and financial pressure on prescribers and patients (from insurers and pharmacy benefit managers) to use generic statins.
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Ezetimibe may confer benefit on atherosclerosis
December 5, 2008
Effect of Statins Alone Versus Statins Plus Ezetimibe on Carotid Atherosclerosis in Type 2 Diabetes | content.onlinejacc.org
This analysis of a completed trial suggests that patients using statins plus ezetimibe to achieve an LDL of under 70, had better regression of atherosclerosis than patients with an LDL target of under 100. In addition, the ezetimibe plus statin group did just as well as a group that used statins alone (presumably in higher doses) to achieve the same LDL. This study suggests that there may indeed be a benefit from ezetimibe treatment, in contrast to the ENHANCE trial results (which were from a unique and aggressively treated population). Although from a retrospective and non randomized analysis, this may be the first ray of light for ezetimibe!
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Heart Assisting Devices: more is not always better.
December 2, 2008
Researchers Find Poor Use of Pumps for Ailing Hearts | www.nytimes.com
VAD (ventricular-assisting devices) are definitely loosing popularity. The one of main reasons for that is extremely poor reimbursement. It is hard to make conclusions from the cited study. It is performed by Medicare. The average age of patients in the study was 63 years. Age over 65 is one of contraindications for the heart transplant. The most common indication for VAD placement in the study was "bailing out" futile cases. That decreased mortality, but simultaneously increased morbidity and, therefore, cost.
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Rosuvastatin in CV risk reduction
December 2, 2008
CRESTOR Demonstrates Dramatic CV Risk Reduction in a Large Statin Outcomes Study | www.astrazeneca.com
Crestor, Rosuvastatin, Cardiovascular risk
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