Merck & Co.’s cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin shows promise

According to a new study, Merck & Co.’s cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin (known as MSD outside the US and Canada) lowered the risk of heart attacks and related disease among people with chronic kidney disease, when compared with a placebo drug. Vytorin combines two drugs, Zetia and Simvastatin.

The Oxford University study looked at more than 9,000 patients who had advanced or end-stage chronic kidney disease. One third were pre-dialysis patients, and one third were already on dialysis, with no previous history of heart attack or other vascular event, and a mean LDL level of 108. Merck said that based on the results, which were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology in Denver, it will seek approval to use the drug for patients with chronic kidney disease.

The main benefit was not in reducing the risk of heart attacks and related deaths but in reducing the artery operations and certain kinds of strokes.

The statin is not yet approved for patients with CKD and prescribing information still stays Vytorin is no more effective than Simvistatin taken alone. Based on the study’s results, Merck plans to seek regulatory approval for the use of Vytorin in patients with chronic kidney disease.

“We’ve been studying people with kidney disease for many years,” said the trial’s co-principal investigator Dr. Martin Landray. “This is the first time that we have ever been able to prove that any treatment would lower the risk of heart disease or other cardiovascular event.”