Abbott currently sells the cholesterol treatment, Tricor, and AstraZeneca currently sells the cholesterol-lowering drug, Crestor. The joint venture to develop the combination drug treatment will aid in lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease, which is known as the number one killer of both men and women.
The two companies plan to share in the costs and profits of the development of the combined drug during the collaboration agreement period. Plans for clinical trials are already underway. It is hoped that successful completion of the clinical trials will result in an approved drug format by the year 2009.
Tony Zook, the executive vice-president, North America, AstraZeneca, stated, "This represents an important further step in broadening the full, long-term potential of Crestor for the treatment of lipid disorders."
According to the Sun-Sentinel, as patents on well-known, top-selling prescription drugs begin to expire, competition could affect the $32 billion worldwide cholesterol market industry ($17 billion in the U.S.). Therefore, the new joint collaboration of the combination of these two companies will help protect each company's share of the extremely profitable pharmaceutical industry.
Eugene Sun, M.D., Vice-President of Global Pharmaceutical Clinical Development, Abbott Laboratories, says "Treatment guidelines emphasize the need to manage three important lipids by lowering bad cholesterol and triglycerides and raising good cholesterol. Increasing evidence shows that addressing these three key lipid targets helps to protect patients from heart disease. This collaboration has the potential to provide physicians and patients with the first statin and fibrate combination in a single pill to comprehensively manage lipids."
Peter H. Jones, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, stated that "Rigorous clinical study of these two drugs in combination to document their safety and efficacy is important for patients and could produce an important new comprehensive lipid treatment tool for physicians."
According to the American Heart Association there are greater than 38 million Americans alone who have complex lipid disease, a major cause of heart disease, who could benefit from this new drug combination. Of course, global numbers are even greater.
