Archive for January, 2009

Chemistry and Industry - Safety concerns over Crestor

Monday, January 12th, 2009

There have been questions over the safety of Crestor, the cholesterol drug on which AstraZeneca has pinned most of its hopes for future growth.
US patient group Public Citizen has asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to withdraw the drug, following the death of a patient who suffered from a muscle damaging condition called rhabdomyolysis, Baycol, Bayer’s successful cholesterol-fighting drug, was withdrawn from the market in 2001, when it wa…

Chemistry and Industry - FDA approves Crestor for AZ

Saturday, January 10th, 2009

AstraZeneca’s second-generation cholesterol drug, Crestor, has finally been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The drug, which is seen as a key product for the company, has been approved at all doses, and without the kidney testing requirements that many were expecting for higher doses.
The drug has faced delays and safety conce…

Medical Marketing and Media - Crestor market share hit by damning AHA article

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

ASTRAZENECA’S cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor lost U.S. market share following the recent publication of a negative report in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
Crestor’s U.S. new prescription market share fell to 6.1 percent from 6.6 percent in the week ending May 27, and to 5.8 percent the following week, London-…

Chemistry and Industry - Crestor takes heart

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

The METEOR trial examined AstraZeneca’s Crestor (rosuvastatin) in patients with early signs of atherosclerosis. C&I notes that because the METEOR study did not show regression of atherosclerosis, it ‘dashes hopes for an expanded label’ (C&I 2007, 7, 7). While METEOR did not show regression, this was not its primary endpoint. METEOR was designed to see if Crestor could halt the progression of atherosclerosis in patients at low-ri…