Pfizer: Lipitor lowers health costs for heart disease patients

Pfizer has announced the results of two new economic analyses at the American College of Cardiology showing that patients administered with Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) exhibited lower hospitalisation costs.

The company reports that heart disease patients treated with the 80 mg tablets showed a lower risk of cardiovascular events with a consequent lowering in the cost of their healthcare in hospital.

Reporting that Lipitor can reduce cardiovascular events in acute coronary syndrome patients at an acceptable cost compared to simvastatin, Pfizer adds that these analyses provide doctors with assistance in providing Lipitor to patients to provide enhanced cardiovascular outcomes that are cost-effective.

Peter Lindgren, managing director of European Health Economics in Sweden: said: “One of these analyses suggests that even with the availability of low cost generics, intensive Lipitor therapy is good economic value.”

He added that the financial impact of heart disease and strokes amounted to hundreds of billions of pounds in the US alone as a result of healthcare costs and reduced productivity.

Earlier this week, Pfizer reported that administration with 10 mg Lipitor tablets provides an “unprecedented” 61 per cent reduction in strokes in patients suffering from type two diabetes and metabolic syndrome without heart disease.