Posts Tagged ‘ Arbiter 6 ’

Merck in the Middle of Statin Drug Soap Opera

November 9th, 2009. By AbiK

Maybe AHA Orlando attendees should order one of these at zazzle.com The latest flurry of statin drug-related news could substitute for your afternoon t.v. soap fix—except there’s a very real-life drama being played out. It’s full of intrigue and false promises. Who knew that the anti-cholesterol drug market could offer so much, and yet so little at the same time?

Here’s the topline history to get you up to speed—just in case you’ve missed the last couple of months’ news on drugs like Vytorin, Zetia and Lipitor…

Zetia + Simvastatin (aka Zocor) = Vytorin

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Vytorin + Zetia = Class Action Settlement

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Zetia + Atorvastatin (aka Lipitor) = Refused by FDA = Bad News for Merck

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Vytorin + Arbiter 6 Study (due 11/16) = Expected Bad News for Merck

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Niaspan + Arbiter 6 Study = Expected Good News for Abbott Labs

So what’s the deal with this Arbiter 6 thing? It’s the clinical study that was conducted—and whose results are hotly anticipated at the American Heart Association (AHA) annual scientific meeting in Orlando on November 16th—to review the efficacy of cholesterol drugs

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Tags: Arbiter 6, Merck, statins, Vytorin, Zetia
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