S-P/Merck & Co's Inegy cuts LDL-C more than Lipitor

US drug major's Merck & Co and Schering-Plough presented strong data at the American Heart Association's 2006 scientific sessions, held in Chicago, on their dual-action cholesterol-lowerer Inegy. The product, which comprises Merck's blockbuster Zocor (simvastatin) and Zetia (ezetimibe), which Merck promotes with S-P in the USA, was significantly more favorable than Pfizer's Lipitor (atorvastatin) in improving markers of coronary heart disease risk in type 2 diabetes patients.

The results from an analysis of a previously-reported double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, 1,198-patient trial, showed that Inegy was significantly more effective at lowering low-density lipoprotein cholesterol than Lipitor at each dose comparison (p=0.001).

Inegy works by inhibiting both cholesterol production in the liver and absorption in the intestine. Earlier this year, the product received its first approval, in Mexico (Marketletter March 29), where it will be marketed as Vytorin. In addition, the drug is currently under review by the US Food and Drug Administration (Marketletters passim).