Lipitor (Atorvastatin) News and Research

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Atorvastatin (INN) (Lipitor, Pfizer), is a member of the drug class known as statins, used for lowering blood cholesterol. It also stabilizes plaque and prevents strokes through anti-inflammatory and other mechanisms. Atorvastatin inhibits HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-determining enzyme located in hepatic tissue that produces mevalonate, a small molecule used in the synthesis of cholesterol and other mevalonate derivatives. This lowers the amount of cholesterol produced which in turn lowers the total amount of LDL cholesterol. Atorvastatin was first synthesized in 1985 by Bruce Roth while working at Parke-Davis Warner-Lambert Company (now Pfizer). With 2006 sales of US$12.9 billion, Lipitor is the largest-selling drug in the world.

More aggressive treatment with statins necessary to lower LDL cholesterol in patients with coronary heart disease and metabolic syndrome

More aggressive treatment with statins is necessary to lower LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol in patients with coronary heart disease and metabolic syndrome, a syndrome composing of three cardiovascular risk factors according to an online article published today by The Lancet.

5 Sep 2006

Ranbaxy wins two additional Atorvastatin patents in Norway

Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited has announced that a Norwegian court handed down a favorable decision for Ranbaxy in its case against Pfizer, involving two patents on atorvastatin in Norway.

30 Aug 2006

Lipitor reduces the risk of a second stroke

Researchers have found that the drug Lipitor which is normally used to lower cholesterol, can cut the risk of a second stroke when used in double doses.

14 Aug 2006

Lipitor reduces stroke risk

In people who have experienced a stroke, but who have no known history of coronary heart disease, beginning regular treatment with the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin soon after the stroke can reduce the risk of recurrent stroke by 16 percent

9 Aug 2006

Ranbaxy invalidates Pfizer's '995 Lipitor U.S. patent

Ranbaxy announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) handed down a judgment in its case challenging two key atorvastatin patents held by Pfizer.

2 Aug 2006

Pfizer's atorvastatin (Lipitor) patent safe

Pfizer Inc said today that a panel of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has upheld the exclusivity of the main patent covering atorvastatin, the active ingredient in Lipitor, maintaining patent protection for Lipitor in the U.S. until March 2010.

2 Aug 2006

Statins stop the replication of the hepatitis C virus

A new study shows that statins, which are typically used as anti-cholesterol medications, can inhibit the replication of the hepatitis C virus (HCV).

9 Jul 2006

NHS could save 2 billion pounds by switching to generic cholesterol lowering drugs

The NHS in England could save over £2bn in the next five years if doctors simply switched patients to cheaper generic cholesterol lowering drugs (statins), say two senior doctors in this week's British Medical Journal.

8 Jun 2006

Atorvastatin may increase new blood vessel formation

Systemic sclerosis (SSc), also known as scleroderma, is an uncommon and confounding disease characterized by excessive fibrous tissue formation and vascular abnormalities.

6 Jun 2006

Hydrophobic statins not associated with increased breast cancer risk

A report published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that women who took statins--the widely used cholesterol lowering drugs--do not face an increased breast cancer risk as had been suggested by some previous studies.

6 Jun 2006

On the diabetes front the news is not good

According to newly published study more than 73 million Americans, one-third of the adult population either already have diabetes and don't even know they have it or are well on the way to getting it.

29 May 2006

Research provides clues to obesity's cause

Hot fudge sundaes and french fries aside, new research suggests obesity is due at least in part to an attraction between leptin, the hormone that signals the brain when to stop eating, and a protein more recently associated with heart disease.

13 Apr 2006

Leptin may lead to new approaches for curbing appetite

11 Apr 2006

Atorvastatin could prove an effective therapy for multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University Medical Center are reporting compelling new evidence that the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin could prove an effective therapy for preventing the progression of, and reversing the severity of, multiple sclerosis (MS).

20 Mar 2006