SDI Reports: Prescriptions For Patients New To Niaspan Rise 41% In Week Following Release Of Arbiter 6-HALTS Study Results

Main Category: Cholesterol
Article Date: 29 Nov 2009 - 0:00 PDT

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In the week ending Friday, Nov. 20 - after the American Heart Association and New England Journal of Medicine released results of the Arbiter 6-HALTS study on Saturday, Nov. 14 - patients new to Niaspan filled 13,255 prescriptions for the cholesterol therapy, an increase of 41% from the week ending Nov. 13.

This data comes from Vector One®: National (VONA), SDI's national-level prescription and patient tracking service. VONA provides a comprehensive overview of the national performance of all prescription drugs dispensed by retail pharmacies.

Niaspan prescriptions rose for patients who had never before taken a cholesterol therapy, as well as patients adding Niaspan to their current cholesterol treatment or switching from a different cholesterol medicine to Niaspan. Niaspan prescriptions filled by patients who had not filled a script for a cholesterol therapy during the previous 12 months grew 34% in the week ending Nov. 20 compared with the prior week. Prescriptions dispensed to patients adding Niaspan to their current treatment or switching to Niaspan from a different cholesterol medicine increased 46%.

Niaspan prescriptions totaled 107,358 in the week ending Nov. 20th, up 2.6% from 104,590 in the week ending Nov. 13.

Source
SDI

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