FDA expands indication for Crestor

On Feb. 8 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the cholesterol-lowering medication Crestor (rosuvastatin) for some patients who are at increased risk of heart disease but have not been diagnosed with it.

The new indication is for reducing the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke or the need for a procedure to treat blocked or narrowed arteries in patients who have never been told they have heart disease but are nevertheless at increased risk of a cardiac event.

Specifically, this includes men 50 years of age and older and women 60 years of age and older who have an elevated amount of a substance known as high sensitivity C-reactive protein in their blood and at least one additional traditional cardiovascular risk factor such as smoking, high blood pressure, a family history of premature heart disease, or low amounts of high-density lipoprotein or HDL cholesterol, the so-called "good cholesterol."

This new indication does not support the use of Crestor in individuals who have an elevated high sensitivity C-reactive protein but no traditional cardiovascular risk factors.

Crestor is in a class of drugs called statins, which work by stopping an enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase from making cholesterol. High amounts of low-density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol, the so-called "bad cholesterol," is a known risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease.

"This expanded indication for Crestor will provide health care providers with a new therapeutic option to help appropriately-identified people lower their risk for a cardiac event," said Eric Colman M.D., deputy director, Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

The new indication was based on results from a study called the JUPITER trial, which compared 8,901 patients who received Crestor for two years to the same number of patients who received a placebo. Patients who took Crestor experienced fewer cardiac events, including heart attacks and strokes, and underwent fewer procedures such as coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass surgery to treat or revascularize their arteries.

High sensitivity C-reactive protein is a nonspecific indicator of inflammation, which is associated with the buildup of cholesterol and other fatty material in the coronary arteries.

Crestor is already approved for use in combination with diet and exercise to lower LDL cholesterol and a related substance known as triglycerides in patients with a high amount of these substances in their blood. The medication is also approved to slow the progression of atherosclerosis - a thickening of the artery wall due to the buildup of cholesterol and other fatty materials.

For more information:
http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm199891.htm