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8:39 am, November 10, 2008
Study gives big boost to AstraZeneca cholesterol drug

AstraZeneca today said that its cholesterol-fighting drug Crestor can dramatically cut deaths, heart attacks and strokes in some patients.

A study called Jupiter, funded by AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN), found it was particularly effective on patients with healthy cholesterol levels but who had high levels of C-reactive protein, which is an indicator of inflamed arteries.

AstraZeneca shares were up 2.7 per cent this morning at £27.57.

Crestor, known chemically as rosuvastatin, was found to reduce heart attack, stroke, need for bypass or angioplasty procedures and cardiovascular death by 45 per cent over less than two years.

The study of 17,802 patients was resented at an American Heart Association meeting on Sunday and is seen as a powerful way for AstraZeneca to differentiate its drug in a crowded cholesterol market.

The tests were stopped more than two years early by independent safety monitors because the benefits from the drug were so pronounced. For every 25 patients treated, one serious heart event was avoided.

Compared to those on a placebo, heart attacks were cut by 54 per cent, strokes by 48 per cent and the need for major heard operations by 46 per cent.

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