Pitavastatin efficacy

Kowa’s new statin maintains reductions in LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) during a year’s treatment with no evidence of new adverse events.

An open-label follow-on study in 1353 patients with primary hypercholesterolaemia or combined dyslipidaemia showed that 74% of patients maintained LDL-C levels below the target set by the European Atherosclerosis Society (Atherosclerosis 2010;210: 202–8). HDL-C levels ultimately increased by 14% compared with baseline. The most frequent treatment-emergent adverse events were raised creatine phospho-kinase (5.8%), nasopharyngitis (5.4%) and myalgia (4.1%).