The FDA has turned down Merck’s application to expand the indication for its cholesterol-lowering drug ezetimibe (Zetia and Vytorin, Merck). This means there’s still no end in sight for this drug’s very long and very winding road. Ezetimibe is now indicated to reduce LDL cholesterol in people with hyperlipidemia. The proposed new indication was for…
FDA Panel Turns Down Expanded Indication For Ezetimibe
December 15, 2015 by Leave a Comment
An FDA advisory panel on Monday voted 10-5 against an expanded indication for Merck’s ezetimibe (Vytorin, Zetia). The current label states that the drugs have not been shown to improve cardiovascular morbidity or mortality. The proposed expanded indication was based on findings from the IMPROVE-IT trial. The panel spent most of the day trying to interpret…
Live Blog: The FDA Advisory Panel On IMPROVE-IT
December 14, 2015 by 1 Comment
Expect Intellectual Fireworks At FDA Advisory Panel On Ezetimibe
December 10, 2015 by 1 Comment
You can expect a lot of high-powered intellectual fireworks at next Monday’s FDA advisory panel considering Merck’s application to upgrade the indications for Vytorin and Zetia. Both brands contain the cholesterol-lowering drug ezetimibe, which was studied exhaustively– in many senses of the word– in the IMPROVE-IT trial. The discussion will likely focus on what to do about missing data and how to…
No Increase In Diabetes Found With Ezetimibe In IMPROVE-IT
September 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
A new analysis of the IMPROVE-IT trial found no significant increase in the rate of new onset diabetes in patients taking ezetimibe. Michael Blazing of Duke University presented the results of the IMPROVE-IT substudy on Tuesday afternoon at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in London. The analysis was prompted by previous findings from very…
IMPROVE-IT Substudy: Ezetimibe Benefit Restricted To Diabetics
August 31, 2015 by 1 Comment
The beneficial effects of ezetimibe are found almost exclusively in patients with diabetes, according to an update of the influential IMPROVE-IT trial presented on Sunday at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in London. The new finding may lead to questions about the widely accepted interpretation of the main finding of the trial, which is that it provided strong support for…
IMPROVE-IT Trial Paper Won’t Be Published Right Away In The New England Journal Of Medicine
November 13, 2014 by 1 Comment
The presentation of the eagerly awaited IMPROVE-IT trial, scheduled for Monday at the American Heart Association meeting, won’t be accompanied by a simultaneous publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. Although no one except for a small group of insiders knows for sure, this news may have important implications. … Click here to read the full post on Forbes. …
Newly Identified Mutations Act Like a Lifetime of Treatment with Ezetimibe
November 13, 2014 by Leave a Comment
A very large genetic study published in the New England Journal of Medicine offers compelling evidence in support of a central role for LDL cholesterol in coronary heart disease. In a series of studies analyzing blood samples from nearly 100,000 people, Sekar Kathiresan and colleagues identified 15 rare mutations that block the activity of a single gene — called Niemann-Pick…
What You Need To Know About IMPROVE-IT
November 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The IMPROVE-IT trial will be big news when its results are finally presented on November 17 during the annual meeting of the American Heart Association. The results of the trial–underway for nearly a decade– have been long and eagerly awaited by everyone interested in cardiovascular medicine. The trial could impact the future sales of a key Merck drug, ezetimibe, though because it is nearing…
Cholesterol Drugs Haunted By Ghosts Of Past, Present, And Future
October 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Cholesterol drugs, both new and old, are in the news again. There’s a lot going on now but the picture won’t really become clear until next month, when the results of a decade-old trial will finally be revealed. Briefly, here’s what’s happening: Two new trials presented fresh evidence that PCSK9s, the much discussed new class of…
IMPROVE-IT Trial Scheduled For Presentation In November
August 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Results of the eagerly-awaited and highly controversial IMPROVE-IT trial are finally going to be revealed. The American Heart Association has announced that the trial will be presented by Chris Cannon on November 17 at 11:51 AM (central time) in Chicago at the group’s annual scientific sessions . IMPROVE-IT compared the effect on cardiovascular outcomes of the statin simvastatin with Vytorin (the combination of…
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