Top > Health > 2007 > March > 2007-03-22

Food & Drug Administration aiding with Cholesterol problems

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved expanded use of Pfizer`s bestselling cholesterol-lowering medication Lipitor by five new categories, including one to reduce the risk of non-fatal heart attacks and strokes, the company announced Wednesday. From now on, the world`s most widely sold prescription drug` label will also include its approval for use in reducing the risks of certain types of heart surgery, hospitalization for heart failure, and chest pain in patients with heart disease. Pfizer proudly boasted that Lipitor is the first cholesterol-lowering drug to receive approval from the FDA for the reduction of risk of hospitalization for heart failure.

The people at Pfizer hope that this news will improve the sale of the drug, which has recently been eroded by health plans attempt to switch patients to the much cheaper generic versions sold by Merck & Co under the brand name Zocor. High-dose trials data on Lipitor, from the label expansion process, may help Pfizer face the growing competition from potent cholesterol medicines such AstraZenaca`s Crestor and Schering-Plough Corp. and Merck`s Vytorin.

Barbara Ryan, an analyst for Deutsche Bank, said she doesn`t believe the label expansion will have a real effect on Lipitor sale, which reached $13 billion, last year. "They`re holding their own in a difficult climate but I don`t think the extended indications are going to change anything," she said. "It`s nice to have them, but I don`t think it will change anything."