CHICAGO — A major study lifts a cloud around Zetia and Vytorin, blockbuster drugs for lowering cholesterol. The study found that these pills modestly lower the risk of heart attacks and other problems in people at high risk for them — evidence that’s been missing for more than a decade as the drugs racked up billions in sales.
Doctors have long focused on lowering LDL, or bad cholesterol, to prevent heart disease. Statins like Lipitor, Crestor and Zocor are the main medicines for this, and a lot of research shows they work.
Merck & Co.’s ezetimibe, which went on sale in 2002, lowers cholesterol in a different way. It’s sold as Zetia and, as a combo pill with Zocor, as Vytorin. The drug won Food and Drug Administration approval for lowering LDL, but some studies suggested that might not translate to fewer heart attacks and strokes. One study even questioned whether it raised the chance of cancer.
The new study found that people at high risk of heart problems who took Vytorin for seven years cut their risk of suffering one by 6 percent — by 8 percent if they took the drug faithfully — compared to others taking just Zocor. Vytorin also proved safe.
Results were revealed Monday at an American Heart Association conference in Chicago.
Longtime Vytorin critic, the Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Steven Nissen, said the study gave “a solid result” and evidence that very low cholesterol cuts heart risks.
The study was sponsored by Merck, and many doctors involved in it consult for the company or other heart drug makers.
Zetia and Vytorin had global sales of $4.25 billion in 2013. They cost about $6.50 per pill, and generic versions will be available in about two years.
