Divided opinion on Vytorin despite

Cardiologists are divided on whether US drug majors Schering-Plough and Merck & Co Vytorin (ezetimibe/simvastatin) increases risk of cancer after conflicting comments in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Released on-line on September 2, ahead of publication, the findings of the SEAS study show an unexpectedly higher incidence of cancer among patients taking the drug. However, a larger meta-analysis conducted by a team of UK epidemiologists, and including the data from SEAS trial, found no such link.

Although the lead investigators of both studies agree that the higher incidence of cancer among Vytorin patients is a statistical anomaly, in the accompanying editoral in the NEJM a panel of senior cardiologists headed by Jeffrey Drazen wrote that "we are prepared to promptly publish in the Journal new information that sheds further light on this unexpected finding. Physicians and patients are unfortunately left for now with uncertainty about the efficacy and safety of the drug." On the day the studies were reported, shares in S-P closed down 1.6%, while Merck fell 2.4%.