Zocor (Simvastatin) is used together with lifestyle changes (diet, weight-loss, exercise) to reduce the amount of cholesterol (a fat-like substance) and other fatty substances in your blood. Simvastatin is in a class of medications called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins). It works by slowing the production of cholesterol in the body.
We've all recently gotten a crash-course in drug repurposing, thanks to near-daily news reports about efforts to identify existing medicines that could help treat COVID-19 in the early phase of the pandemic.
A decades-long friendship and a shared passion for basic science has inspired a $15 million gift to the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) at Washington University in St. Louis to fund undergraduate programs and graduate student fellowships in the life sciences.
True benefit from healthcare products requires an unrelenting focus on patient- and consumer-centered safety, a principle that is at the heart of J&J’s Credo and is embodied in the mission of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer (OCMO).
There is a wealth of published information describing interactions between drugs used to treat cardiovascular disease and the genetic variations that can affect how patients respond to them. But few heart specialists make routine use of this potentially life-saving data.
In a database study of nearly 26,000 beneficiaries of Tricare, the military health system, those taking statin drugs to control their cholesterol were 87 percent more likely to develop diabetes.
A research team showed that a nanotherapeutic medicine can halt the growth of artery plaque cells resulting in the fast reduction of the inflammation that may cause a heart attack, according to a study led by researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published April 3 in Science Advances.
Janssen R&D Ireland announced today an amendment to its existing agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc., initially established in 2011, for the development of a once daily, darunavir-based, single-tablet regimen (STR) for the treatment of people living with HIV.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved AbbVie's VIEKIRA PAK, an all-oral, interferon-free treatment, with or without ribavirin (RBV), for the treatment of patients with chronic genotype 1 (GT1) hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, including those with compensated cirrhosis.
New national guidelines can improve the way statin drugs are prescribed to patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, a Yale University study has found.
Janssen Research & Development, LLC (Janssen) today announced it has submitted a Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for simeprevir, an NS3/4A protease inhibitor marketed as OLYSIO™ in the United States, in combination with the nucleotide analog NS5B polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir developed by Gilead Sciences, Inc.
The New England Journal of Medicine study is the first independent assessment of guidelines released last fall on the use of the heart medications and it shows 56 million people between the ages of 40 and 75 are eligible for the treatment.
Janssen Therapeutics, Division of Janssen Products, LP, announced today the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved OLYSIO (simeprevir), an NS3/4A protease inhibitor, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection as part of an antiviral treatment regimen in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in genotype 1 infected adults with compensated liver disease, including cirrhosis.
Vanderbilt has added genetic screening for the drug tacrolimus to its personalize medicine pharmacogenomics program PREDICT. The new drug screening protocol was added following data that shows a single genetic variation largely impacts different dose requirements for patients.
Statins, the most widely prescribed drugs worldwide, are often suggested to lower cholesterol and prevent heart disease in individuals with obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which is a combination of medical disorders including excess body fat and/or high levels of blood pressure, blood sugar and/or cholesterol.
In the United States, the cost paid for statins (drugs to lower cholesterol) in people under the age of 65 who have private insurance continues to exceed comparable costs paid by the government in the United Kingdom by more than three fold.
For the first time, a study has found that intensive cholesterol therapy involving a combination of drugs for 20 years may be more effective over the long run than taking a single statin medication.
In a study of more than 1,000 adults, researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found that individuals taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are more likely than non-users to experience decreased energy, fatigue upon exertion, or both. The researchers suggest that these findings should be taken into account by doctors when weighing risk versus benefit in prescribing statins.
Eric Topol, Chief Academic Officer for Scripps Health and cardiologist, wrote an ‘op-ed’ in the New York Times Opinion Page addressing the risk of cholesterol-reducing statins such as Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor.
The length of delay in approval is not clear yet as the FDA has called for additional study data on the compound. It combines generic Lipitor (Atorvastatin), the top-selling drug of all time, with Merck's cholesterol medicine Zetia (Ezetimibe).
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's announcement Tuesday stated that it would require additional safety warnings on the labels of the cholesterol-lowering drugs. Doctors have said that while the benefits of statins outweigh their potential harm, some patients are alarmed by the new announcement.