Pfizer's Lipitor reduces heart attacks and strokes in diabetic patients.

Pharma Marketletter, June, 2003

Pfizer has announced that its blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) has demonstrated a significant cardiovascular benefit in diabetics, according to preliminary data released by the University College of London. As a result, the four-year study has been stopped two years ahead of schedule.

The Collaborative Atorvastatin Diabetes Study involved 2, 838 patients with type 2 diabetes who had no previous history of heart disease or stroke. The subjects were treated with either 10mg/day Lipitor or placebo in order to assess the efficacy of the agent in reducing major coronary events, strokes or surgical procedure. The trial, initiated in the UK and Ireland, involves Pfizer, University College London, Diabetes UK and the Department of Health....