Statin drug trial halted six months early after success

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One of the largest trials of a cholesterol-lowering drug ever conducted was halted more than six months early after dramatic reductions in illness and death were seen in treated patients.

The Jupiter trial investigated the effects of rosuvastatin on almost 18,000 patients with low to normal cholesterol levels but raised concentrations of an inflammation protein, C-reactive protein (CRP).

Under normal circumstances, the patients would not be considered at risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke, or dying from a heart-related cause. Yet those receiving medium doses of the drug, sold as Crestor, experienced far fewer adverse heart events than those given a placebo.

Heart attack risk was reduced by 54 per cent and stroke by 48 per cent. The combined risk of heart attack, stroke and heart-related death fell by 47 per cent, as did the odds of undergoing surgical procedures. Because the benefits were so clear, an independent monitoring board halted the trial early last March.

Hazard reductions were similar for men and women, and groups normally assumed to be at very low risk were found to benefit.