Wondering just what managed care and pharmacy benefit managers may be thinking about Vytorin and Zetia? A survey of 71 execs taken during the week immediately following the American College of Cardiology meeting finds that 67 percent felt there would be “no immediate change” to their coverage plans, according to Cognet-X, a healthcare research firm.
The [...]

Not us. A survey of 101 primary care docs conducted by Deutsche Bank analyst Barbara Ryan has predictably bad news for Schering-Plough and Merck - the results suggest “both additional abrupt and sustained declines for Vytorin and Zetia, and increased utilization of other statins, especially Crestor,” she writes in an investor note this morning. [...]

A bit of good news, actually, at least for the drugmaker. The trial was halted because the cholesterol pill outperformed a placebo in a study to determine whether Crestor would reduce heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems in patients with no signs of pre-existing cardiovascular disease and low to normal LDL, but elevated levels of [...]

Another day, another earnings report, or two. And who knows what else? As we assemble another interesting tale, we are also hunting and gathering all sorts of items. Here are a few for you. So grab your coffee or tea, or bottle of water, and catch up with the rest of us…
AstraZeneca reported fourth-quarter profit [...]

The drugmaker accomplished this feat by engineering a special supplement that was published along with an issue last January of The Pharmaceutical Journal, which is read by UK pharmacists. The supplement was purportedly about guidelines for statin use but was later tagged as a mere disguise for Crestor, AstraZeneca’s cholesterol fighter.
Following publication, complaints were lodged [...]

A study unveiled at the ACC today found that AstraZeneca’s cholesterol pill drug slowed thickening in the neck arteries of people at low risk for heart attacks and strokes, but failed to reverse thickening as researchers had hoped.
Thickening of arterial walls is a precursor to plaque buildup, which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. [...]

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 [...]

The newest prescription data shows Pfizer’s smoking-cessation treatment gaining traction. New scrips written for the week ending Feb. 23 rose 10.7 percent and total scrips gained 10.9 percent, according to a research note issued today by industry analyst David Risinger at Merrill Lynch, who cites IMS Health.
Among cholesterol pills, new scrips written for AstraZeneca’s Crestor [...]

The big drugmaker reported decent earnings, but like its rivals is scrambling to lower expenses and replenish its pipeline at the same time.
Toward that end, AstraZeneca is paying $150 million for Arrow Therapeutics, which develops anti-infectives.
For 1006, pretax profit was $8.54 billion, and sales rose 11 percent to $26.5 billion, thanks toor blockbusters like anticulercant [...]