Merck & Co's Inegy outperforms Crestor in study

USA-based pharmaceutical company Merck & Co says that data from a trial of its product Inegy (ezetimibe/simvastin), shows that it brings about a greater reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol than AstraZeneca's Crestor (rosuvastatin) in hypercholesterolemia patients. The findings, which were presented at the 2006 International symposium on Atherosclerosis held in Rome, Italy, are derived from a double-blind, six-week parallel group study which compared the two drugs. Enrolled subjects were randomized to receive one of three doses of Igey or Crestor, with the programs primary endpoint being LDL-cholesterol reduction from baseline.

The results showed that Inegy outperformed rosuvastatin in terms of LDL-cholesterol reduction, at all the tested dosages. Merck also reported that a greater proportion of the high-risk patients involved in the study achieved the National Cholesterol Education Program target LDL-cholesterol level of 70mg/dl or below, than those taking rosuvastatin (90.1% versus 82%, respectively).