AstraZeneca trial to compare efficacy of atherosclerosis drugs

Saturn is a 104-week, parallel-group, multicentre, double-blind, Phase IIIb intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging study of approximately 1,300 patients at 170 centres worldwide. The first patient will be enrolled in January, 2008 and the study is expected to complete in 2011. Saturn is part of AstraZeneca’s extensive Galaxy clinical trials program, designed to address important unanswered questions in statin research and to investigate the impact of rosuvastatin on control of lipids, atherosclerosis and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

Saturn will compare the effects of the two statins on the ability to decrease progression or induce regression of atherosclerosis, the main cause of cardiovascular disease, following two years of treatment in patients with coronary artery disease.

Elisabeth Bjork, global medical science director for Crestor, said: “The results of the Saturn study will provide additional information on how best to treat patients with the very serious condition of advanced atherosclerosis. We believe the data from this study will underscore the benefits of intensively managing cholesterol levels with rosuvastatin, both LDL-C and HDL-C, to reduce the burden of atherosclerosis.”