A new analysis of AstraZeneca‘s cholesterol-lowering statin Crestor shows that the drug sharply reduces the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE), a potentially fatal disorder in which blood clots can form in the legs and travel to the lungs. According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription req’d), this discovery is surprising because bad cholesterol isn’t thought to influence the development of blood clots. The new analysis was born out of AstraZeneca’s Jupiter study, which found that Crestor reduced the risk of serious cardiac problems by 44 percent in patients reaching prime-heart attack age. Patients in the original study showed no evidence of heart disease or cholesterol levels high enough to warrant preventive treatment under current guidelines. Crestor enjoyed a sales boost in the wake of the original Jupiter findings.
The most recent findings are published in the New England Journal of Medicine.