The cholesterol drug failed to significantly reduce plaque in the carotid arterty in a widely anticipated clinical trial, says Morgan Stanley analyst Jami Rubin, in an investor note today.

The results, which are supposed to be released formally at the American College of Cardiology meeting starting next Sat., March 24 in New Orleans, are particularly good news for AstraZeneca’s rivals: Merck and Schering-Plough. Their joint venture, of course, sells Vytorin and Zetia.

Rubin drew her conclusions on an abstract of AstraZeneca’s Meteor trial, which measured plaque build-up in the carotid artery in asymptomatic patients with high cholesterol who were at low risk of heart disease. Previous Crestor studies in patients with more serious atherosclerosis, or arterial plaque buildup, had shown good regression.

In his own note, Prudential Equity’s Tim Anderson says: “It appears that Crestor indeed arrested progression in this trial - there was a trend for regression versus baseline, however this was not statistically significant. For certain arterial subsegments (such as the common carotid artery) there was statistically significant plaque regression. The take-away: these results are positive, but not as positive as they could have been. ”

Source: Reuters
Info about the ACC meeting coming up;
AstraZeneca’s Meteor trial.[tags]AstraZeneca, Crestor, Merck, Schering-Plough, Vytorin, Zetia[/tags]