Fluvastatin Shows Greater Cost Benefits

An investigation confirming that Sandoz' fluvastatin is the more cost-effective of two successful lipid-lowerers, fluvastatin and Merck & Co's lovastatin, was presented in last week's British Journal of Medical Economics.

This randomized, double-blind trial enrolled 120 hypercholesterolemia patients with fasting low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration levels greater than 180mg/dl and serum triglyceride concentrations less than, or equal to, 300mg after a four-week wash-out period using HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor therapy. Two groups were then assigned once-daily doses of either 20mg of fluvastatin or 20mg of lovastatin, for a period of six weeks.

In clinical efficacy tests, determined by dose-response curves, it was found that both drugs achieved a 35%-40% reduction in low-density lipoprotein concentration, and were, in this respect, interchangeable with one other. In addition the number of side effects that were reported in the two groups were low.