Combination pill cuts heart attacks

pharmafile | June 13, 2006 | News story | Sales and Marketing  

New data on Pfizer's combination pill Caduet show it can cut the number of heart attacks and strokes in at-risk patients by between 29 and 52%.

Caduet, launched in 2004, brings together Pfizer's blockbuster statin Lipitor (atorvastatin) and the company's off-patent hypertension drug Istin (amlodipine) in one pill to combat cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients who have the additional risk factor of raised cholesterol levels.

At the annual conference of the European Society of Hypertension in Madrid, Prof Luis Ruilope, president of the Spanish Society of Hypertension, said: "The data showed that by taking Caduet, patients can achieve and maintain blood pressure and lipid goals. This new regimen provides an opportunity to potentially halve the calculated risk of a fatal cardiovascular event in hypertensive patients with additional CV risk factors."

The drug achieved sales of $185 million in 2005, and although lower than expected,Pfizer believes it serves a need within the market and says uptake will be a gradual process. Another combination product in the cardiovascular range, also launched in 2004, Schering-Plough and Merck's Vytorin/Inergy which combines simvastatin and ezetimibe for treating raised cholesterol levels, has shown more rapid growth, having already achieved blockbuster status.

 

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