AstraZeneca fury over 'Lancet' attack on Crestor

The launch of AstraZeneca's new medicine, the Crestor cholesterol-lowering drug, has been dealt a blow, with Britain's most respected medical journal advising doctors not to prescribe it. An editorial in today's The Lancet accuses Astra-Zeneca of peddling "adventurous statistics" about Crestor's likely effect on heart disease, and it says the company's marketing tactics "raise disturbing questions about how drugs enter clinical practice".

Sir Tom McKillop, AstraZeneca's chief executive, angrily rejected The Lancet's conclusions, saying it had produced a "deplorable and flawed" article which "ill served its readers".

The row overshadowed strong results from the company, including the first meaningful contribution from Crestor, or rosuvastatin.

The editorial says: "Since there are no reliable data about efficacy and safety - and AstraZeneca is facing unusually acute commercial pressure to force rosuvastatin into the market - doctors should pause before prescribing this drug. Physicians must tell their patients the truth about rosuvastatin, that, compared with competitors, it has an inferior evidence base supporting its safe use."

Sir Tom said he will spend what it takes to win Crestor a 20 per cent share in the crowded market for cholesterol-lowering drugs, which includes the world's biggest selling medicine, Pfizer's Lipitor.

Crestor had better-than-forecast sales of $56m (£33m) in the US since its launch in August, taking global sales to $88m this year so far. But approval for the drug is still stalled in three European countries, including Germany. AstraZeneca accepted yesterday that safety arguments with these regulators may drag on into next year. Side effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs include kidney problems and potentially fatal muscle-wasting.

Sir Tom said: "All the safety and efficacy data on Crestor have been reviewed in great depth by regulatory authorities globally, who assessed the benefit risk profile of the product and approved it in a demanding regulatory climate."

Astra-Zeneca needs new drugs to replace falling sales of its ulcer pill Losec, which lost patent protection.

Third-quarter sales rose 5 per cent to $4.8bn and profits rose 7 per cent to $1.1bn. The shares rose 99p to 2849p.