World's largest kidney disease trial shows big benefits from reducing cholesterol with Vytorin; Merck & Co to apply for CKD indication

Around a quarter of all heart attacks, strokes, and operations to open blocked arteries could be avoided in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) by using the combination of ezetimibe and simvastatin, drug major Merck & Co’s (NYSE: MRK) Vytorin, to lower blood cholesterol levels. That is the conclusion from the world's largest ever randomized trial in kidney disease.

Unveiling the key findings over the weekend at the American Society of Nephrology, taking place in Denver, the trial's principal investigator Colin Baigent said: "This is excellent news for patients who have kidney disease. It was already known that cholesterol-lowering could reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and the need for surgery to unblock arteries in people with normal kidney function. But, this trial now shows that cholesterol-lowering has similar effects in people with chronic kidney disease, irrespective of the severity of their illness. Taking ezetimibe plus simvastatin long-term would avoid around one quarter of heart attacks, strokes and operations to unblock arteries, leading to their prevention in at least 250,000 people with kidney disease worldwide each year."

"This is an important study," said Peter Kim, president of Merck Research Laboratories, who added: "Patients with CKD have a high risk of ischemic vascular disease and increased rates of heart attack, stroke, other cardiovascular events and revascularization procedures. In SHARP, the investigational use of Vytorin significantly reduced the risk of these events in a spectrum of patients with chronic kidney disease - and this was the first demonstration that a low-density lipoprotein cholesterol lowering medicine could do so."