Merck’s Vytorin First Cholesterol Drug to Further Cut Heart Risk
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Merck & Co.’s Vytorin reduced the risks of second heart attacks and strokes in patients already on aggressive therapy, making it the first medicine to improve on the current standard of care for lowering cholesterol.
The findings from the controversial 18,000-patient study, under way for almost a decade, were presented today at the American Heart Association meeting in Chicago. They found that Vytorin cut the rates of heart attack, stroke and death beyond the use of simvastatin, a powerful drug that has been a staple for 20 years since it was shown to reduce death rates 30 percent.