Pfizer’s 3 Fastest-Growing Drugs

After years of declining sales due to patent expiration on its megablockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor, the company finally appears to be on a path back to reporting year-over-year growth. Investments in mergers and acquisitions deserve some credit for its improving fortune, but a lot of it also rests on fast-growing drugs churned out by its research and development team.

‘Red Yeast Rice’ Statin Alternative Not Harmless

A natural cholesterol -lowering supplement called red yeast rice could pose the same health risks to users as statin drugs, a new study contends. Red yeast rice could increase risk of muscle injury or liver damage, Italian researchers reported after reviewing 13 years of patient data.

Apolipoprotein e genotype, plasma cholesterol, and cancer: a Mendelian randomization study.

Observational studies have shown an association between low plasma cholesterol levels and increased risk of cancer, whereas most randomized clinical trials involving cholesterol-lowering medications have not shown this association. Between 1997 and 2002, the authors assessed the association between plasma cholesterol levels and cancer risk, free from confounding and reverse causality, in a Mendelian randomization study using apolipoprotein E genotype.

Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein Inhibition With Anacetrapib…

Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein Inhibition With Anacetrapib Decreases Fractional Clearance Rates of High-Density Lipoprotein Apolipoprotein A-I and Plasma Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein. Anacetrapib , an inhibitor of cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity, increases plasma concentrations of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol , apolipoprotein A-I -I, apoA-II, and CETP.

Effects of Vascular and Nonvascular Adverse Events and of…

From the Health Economics Research Centre and Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit , Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. From the Health Economics Research Centre and Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit , Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.