AstraZeneca stops testing based on life-saving results of cholesterol pill

LONDON AstraZeneca has halted the trial of its Crestor cholesterol drug early, because of evidence that shows the pill’s effectiveness in cutting deaths in patients with no evidence of heart disease, according to published reports.

AstraZeneca is the United Kingdom’s second-biggest drug maker, behind GlaxoSmithKline, and the results of the trial are set to help propel the company to a greater share of the cholesterol market, worth $35 billion dollars. According to published reports, AstraZeneca is anxious to get Crestor out on the market before the competing drug from Pfizer, Lipitor, loses its patent protection, resulting in consumers turning solely to a generic version instead.

The study done to test Crestor's effectiveness, named JUPITER, was looking to find whether the drug was able to block a protein associated with a risk of arterial blockages and would work on patients with low to normal cholesterol. It was said to have outperformed the placebo. Another successful study named ASTEROID found that Crestor reduced blockages in the arteries, which can reverse the cause of heart attacks.