The potential impact of AstraZeneca's new superstatin Crestor(rosuvastatin) on the market for statin drugs, and in particular its threat to Pfizer's $5.8 billion rival Lipitor (atorvastatin), was reinforced at the American College of Cardiology meeting, held in Florida, USA. AstraZeneca reported the results of several human trials of its new drug, some of which have already been circulated in abstract form (Marketletter January 22), and presented a strong case for its rapid take-up in the $13 billion statin market.
Despite the size of the market and the volume of statin prescriptions, these drugs are not fulfilling their maximum potential, partly because doctors remain slow to initiate therapy with them but also because, when they choose to do so, they often prescribe them at doses that are unlikely to achieve any clinical benefit.
Evan Stein, director of the Cholesterol Treatment Center in Kentucky, USA, is confident that the introduction of AstraZeneca's statin will have a positive impact on both the speed that treatment is initiated and the level of drug prescribed. The potency of the drug at the lowest dose tested (5mg) is particularly important, as studies reveal that patients on statin therapy are often maintained on their starting dose, regardless of whether lipid profile targets are reached.
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