AstraZeneca’s Crestor collaboration praised

AstraZeneca’s decision to collaborate with Abbott’s to produce a new combination anticholesterol therapy using AstraZeneca’s statin, Crestor, and Abbott’s TriCor, has been praised by analysts.

On Wednesday, AstraZeneca announced a tie-up with Abbott to produce a new joint anticholesterol combination therapy, intended to reduce “bad” LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels, while improving “good” HDL-cholesterol levels.

Graham Perry, an analyst for Merrill Lynch, told United Press International: “Overall we view the deal as a step in the right direction. However, we highlight that [AstraZeneca’s] late stage Phase III pipeline remains weak with only five products, all of which we view as high risk or facing substantial barriers to entry.”

Analyst Jan Wald of A G Edwards told the same news agency: “It’s a good move for Abbott. It will be a very good collaboration and helpful to sales of TriCor.”

The collaboration, which will also affect products associated with Elan and Solvay, will involve two separate projects. The companies will produce a Crestor/TriCor combination but will also work on a combination for Crestor and a TriCor replacement, currently undergoing phase III trials.

Morningstar analyst Tom D’Amore said that the partnership reflected growing trends in the pharmaceutical industry.

“I think it’s an indication that the major pharmaceutical companies all want to participate in the very large and fast-growing cholesterol-control market, and in particular, they want to try to duplicate the success Schering-Plough and Merck have had with Vytorin,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The new product is expected to be launched in 2009.

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