Zocor News and Research

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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.

Different statin drugs exert different effects on COVID-19 patients

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.

9 May 2023

$15 million gift to fund undergraduate programs and graduate student fellowships in life sciences

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.

30 Oct 2021

Advancing safety in healthcare products

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).

From Johnson & Johnson 5 May 2017

Substantial pharmacogenetic information available on cardiovascular drugs

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.

2 Jun 2015

Study confirms link between statin drugs and diabetes risk

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.

8 May 2015

Nanomedicine strategy can help reduce heart attacks, strokes

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.

6 Apr 2015

Janssen, Gilead to jointly develop darunavir-based, single-tablet regimen for HIV treatment

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.

29 Dec 2014

FDA approves AbbVie's VIEKIRA PAK for treatment of patients with GT1 HCV infection

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.

21 Dec 2014

New guidelines can improve the way statin drugs prescribed to patients at cardiovascular risk

New national guidelines can improve the way statin drugs are prescribed to patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, a Yale University study has found.

27 Aug 2014

Janssen submits sNDA to FDA for simeprevir in combination with sofosbuvir for treatment of HCV genotype 1 infection

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.

8 May 2014

Study finds new heart guidelines would put about half of older adults on statins

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.

21 Mar 2014

FDA approves OLYSIO (simeprevir) for treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection

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.

23 Nov 2013

Vanderbilt adds genetic screening for drug tacrolimus to PREDICT program

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.

27 Aug 2013

Simvastatin hinders positive effects of exercise for obese adults, say researchers

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.

17 May 2013

Study results show ongoing comparison of prescription drug costs between US and UK

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.

3 Nov 2012

Long-term intensive combination lipid therapy may be effective against atherosclerotic disease

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.

26 Jun 2012

Individuals on statins more likely to experience fatigue with exertion

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.

12 Jun 2012

Are Americans overdosing on cholesterol lowering 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.

7 Mar 2012

Merck fails to get FDA nod for new cholesterol lowering combo pill

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).

5 Mar 2012

Patients worried about statin use after label warnings from FDA

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.

1 Mar 2012