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The study found that intensive cholesterol lowering with the combination of simvastatin and ezetimibe in patients with aortic stenosis appears to reduce the risk of coronary artery disease events, but not the rate of progression of aortic valve disease.
Merck and Schering postponed the announcement of their quarterly results Monday pending the release of the study's findings. In a joint venture, the companies market Vytorin, a combination of Schering's Zetia and Merck's Zocor. Ezetimibe is the generic name for Zetia and simvastatin is the generic name for Zocor.
Merck shares were down 3.5% at $36.36. Schering's stock was off 11.2% at $19.04.
The use of simvastatin and ezetimibe in patients with aortic stenosis was generally well tolerated and safe, said Terje Pedersen in a statement. Pedersen is the principal investigator and head of the steering committee of the simvastatin and szetimibe in aortic stenosis, or SEAS, study.
Aortic stenosis involves the partial blockage of the aortic valve in the heart. If it's left untreated, it can progress to death from heart failure or cardiac arrest. Studies have shown that a high blood level of LDL-cholesterol, the so-called bad cholesterol, is a risk factor for developing aortic stenosis.
The primary endpoint of the SEAS study was major cardiovascular events, which is the composite of events associated with aortic valve disease and atherosclerotic disease. No significant difference was observed between the treatment groups for the combined primary endpoint, the study found.
The secondary endpoints were the two separate components of the primary endpoint: aortic valve disease events and atherosclerotic disease events. The study found that Vytorin produced a statistically significant proportional reduction in the secondary endpoint of atherosclerotic events alone versus the placebo group. Katherine Hunt kh/gm/kh/gm
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