Pfizer's Torcetrapib/Atorvastatin Significantly Raised "Good" Cholesterol While Lowering "Bad" Cholesterol

Main Category: Cholesterol
Article Date: 25 Nov 2005 - 5:00 PDT

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Results presented today at the American Heart Association's annual meeting showed that torcetrapib combined with all doses of atorvastatin (Lipitor) resulted in a significant increase in "good" cholesterol (HDL-C) levels at the same time as substantially decreasing their "bad" cholesterol (LDL-C).

The two Phase 2 studies involving torcetrapib/atorvastatin were designed to determine whether this combination therapy can effectively raise HDL-C while lowering LDL-C. HDL-C carries cholesterol away from cells and tissues preventing its build up and resulting deposits which contribute to heart disease. Researchers believe that raising HDL-C levels may provide further benefits in the management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) potentially reducing patients' CV risk.

In a study of nearly 500 patients, those who received torcetrapib (60 mg) and atorvastatin (10, 20, 40, 80 mg) had increases in HDL-C of 44 to 66 percent. At the same time, their LDL-C dropped between 41 and 60 percent.

This new approach could change the way physicians manage cholesterol and further reduce the risk of atherosclerosis in their patients.

Discovered and developed by Pfizer, torcetrapib works by blocking CETP, a protein in the blood that transfers cholesterol and triglycerides between LDL-C and HDL-C.

A separate study involving 40 patients showed that raising HDL-C with torcetrapib increased the transportation of cholesterol from cells - an effect seen to be functionally similar to patients with naturally occurring high levels of HDL-C.

Pfizer's torcetrapib/atorvastatin development program is the largest and most comprehensive clinical trial program the company has ever undertaken. In attempting to establish the role and benefits of HDL-C in heart disease, the world's leading cause of death in adults, Pfizer is studying some 25,000 patients at hundreds of medical centers worldwide.

CETP (cholesterol-ester transfer protein) is a protein that regulates cholesterol and is responsible for transferring cholesterol from its "good" HDL carrier to LDL, the "bad" carrier of cholesterol that results in plaque buildup in the arteries. Scientists believe that CETP inhibition raises HDL levels because cholesterol remains attached to HDL and is unable to be transferred or attached to LDL, where it can build up in the arteries. In addition, researchers believe that blocking CETP and raising HDL may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

About Pfizer

Pfizer, with its UK business headquarters in Surrey and global headquarters in New York, is a research-based global pharmaceutical company. Pfizer discovers, develops, manufactures and markets leading prescription medicines for humans and animals, and many of the world's best-known consumer treatments. Every month, over two million patients in the UK are prescribed a Pfizer medicine. It is estimated that on any given day, 40 million people around the world are treated with a Pfizer medicine.

References:

Torcetrapib combined with atorvastatin raises HDL-C, lowers LDL-C and is well tolerated: results from a phase 2 dose-ranging clinical trial. Abstract AHA November 2005

CETP inhibition in humans by torcetrapib maintains the cholesterol efflux potential of HDL. Abstract AHA November 2005

Alicia Sanders
Communications Manager, Pfizer
Tel: 01737 330 857
Mob: 07813 009 195
alicia.sanders@pfizer.com
http://www.pfizer.com