Results from a major European study found that Vytorin did not prevent worsening of heart valve disease nor did it lower the need for valve surgery.
Preliminary results of the study found that Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough's joint marketing venture of Vytorin showed no statistical difference between the drug and a placebo at lowering the risk of major cardiovascular event such as heart attack, stroke, surgery or death in patients with aortic stenosis. Other studies have also found no benefit to patients taking Vytorin which resulted in a media blitz by the manufacterers to attempt damage control.
Vytorin is a combination of Merck's Zocor and Schering-Plough's Zetia and the study did find that the drug reduced cholesterol levels by 60% but results were no better than the previously established benefits of Zocor and other statins.
In March cardiologists recommended that doctors fall back to older, established treatments for high cholesterol. Schering-Plough reported that U.S. prescriptions for Vytorin and Zetia had both dropped by just over 25% in the period of January to June as compared to a 5% drop in total cholesterol drug sales.
[Source: YahooNews]
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