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Article: Drug designed to raise HDL levels falls down.(News)
- Article from:
- Journal of Clinical Investigation
- Article date:
- February 1, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 American Society for Clinical Investigation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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On December 2, 2006, Pfizer halted the development of torcetrapib, the drug that was once considered by the company and pharmaceutical analysts as the most promising drug in its pipeline.
The development of torcetrapib as a treatment for heart disease was brought to an end because preliminary data from a 15,000-patient phase III clinical trial indicated that individuals receiving the drug had higher risks of death and heart failure than did individuals not receiving the drug.
The trial was organized such that 7,500 patients taking torcetrapib and the statin Lipitor (atorvastatin) were compared with 7,500 patients taking Lipitor alone. It was hoped that ...