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news.Miami-based drugmaker Kos Pharmaceuticals has received positive results from a study of its already-approved cholesterol drug Niaspan confirming the drug's efficacy, while also showing the potential of a modified version of the product.
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The company designed two separate studies, the first of which was a single dose, three-way crossover study of 156 participants evaluating a modified formulation (MF) of Niaspan designed to reduce the side effect of flushing often reported in Niaspan users.
Niaspan MF showed a statistically significantly improved overall flushing profile compared to the commercially available Niaspan, with a 42% reduction in severity, and a 43% reduction in duration of flushing.
The second study recruited 292 patients to compared the efficacy of combination therapy with Niaspan and low to moderate doses of Pfizer’s Lipitor and AstraZeneca’s Crestor, against moderate to high doses of Crestor and Zocor/Zetia, produced by Merck & Co/Schering-Plough.
Results showed that all treatments were equivalent in their ability to lower LDL-C. However, both Niaspan combinations achieved significantly greater increases in HDL-C, the good cholesterol, and significantly greater reductions in triglycerides compared to the other two treatment arms.
“Aggressively treating multiple lipid parameters simultaneously is important in combating the worldwide epidemic of heart disease,” said Adrian Adams, president and CEO of Kos Pharmaceuticals.