Pfizer receives EU backing for new Lipitor indication

Pfizer has been granted the approval of the European Commission for its bestselling cholesterol treatment Lipitor to be used among children.

The European Medicines Agency has ratified the drug for use in patients aged ten years or over with high levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, brought on by primary causes such as inherited disorder familial hypercholesterolemia.

This approval was based on data from a paediatric investigation plan filed by Pfizer last year, with positive clinical trial data leading to a recommendation from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

It means that the use of the current tablet form of Lipitor will now be permissible among children, as well as a newly-introduced chewable version of the drug.

Last month, Pfizer published new data from a clinical trial of the treatment Caduet, which demonstrated the drug’s effectiveness in reducing rates of coronary heart disease over a ten-year period.