The WSJ reports the findings of this once-promising drug from the ACC meetings:
This morning the curtain was pulled back on study results the company had hoped would support its eventual approval. The experimental drug raised patients’ good cholesterol by 61% when taken with Lipitor, compared with those taking Lipitor alone. But that increase in good cholesterol didn’t halt or reverse narrowing of arteries, a disappointment that casts doubt on the concept behind the pill . . .. . . The other bad news was that torcetrapib plus Lipitor increased systolic blood pressure by 6.5 millimeters of mercury, versus a 2 mm increase in the Lipitor-alone group. A drug that raises blood pressure in patients already at risk of heart disease is not exactly what cardiologists had in mind.
