Merck’s Inegy “superior to Lipitor” for cholesterol reduction

A new study for Merck’s statin Vytorin (sold in the UK as Inegy) has shown that it is better than Lipitor in reducing LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) in patients with type II diabetes.

In a trial involving 1,229 patients with type II diabetes, Vytorin demonstrated an average 53.6 per cent reduction in LDL cholesterol, compared to 38.3 per cent for Lipitor at the recommended usual starting doses.

Merck says the drug is the “first and only” drug approved to block the two sources of LDL by inhibiting cholesterol production in the liver and impeding the absorption of cholesterol in the intestines.

The results were released at the American Diabetes Association’s annual scientific session. Ronald Goldberg, co-director of the Southeastern Florida Regional Diabetes Programme, remarked: “Patients with diabetes and high cholesterol are considered to be in the high risk category for heart disease, according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III).”

“This study showed that Vytorin was significantly more effective than Lipitor in reducing LDL “bad” cholesterol when comparing the recommended usual starting doses and the alternative starting doses for those patients that need greater LDL cholesterol lowering,” he added.

Vytorin is marketed as Inegy in the UK by a joint Merck/Schering-Plough company. It is a mix of simvastatin, sold by Merck as Zocor, and ezetimibe, sold by Merck/Schering-Plough as Zetia.

Zocor was Merck’s biggest-selling drug in 2005, bringing in sales of $4.3 billion. However, its US patent expires later this month, when it will become susceptible to generic competition and consequently reduced sales.

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