Pravastatin

Pravastatin (trade name Pravachol) is a statin drug discovered in Japan by scientists at pharmaceutical company Sankyo Co, Ltd (now Sankyo Daiichi Sankyo Co.) in 1979. Pravastatin is produced by chemical modification of the related drug lovastatin in a two-step fermentation reaction performed by the bacterium Nocardia autotrophica. Pravastatin was first launched by Sankyo in Japan in 1989. In 1991, following FDA approval, pravastatin was introduced to the US market by Bristol-Myers Squibb who had acquired the rights to sell it outside of Japan.

Myopathic patients, who cannot tolerate a stain, may require pravastatin or another statin that may reduce the risk of producing myopathy.

Pravastatin is available in 10, 20, 40, and 80 mg tablets and is taken orally. Typical starting doses are between 20-40 mgs. Since the patent expired in 2006, several generic drug makers have received FDA approval to produce pravastatin, the first of which was Teva. In 2006, before losing patent protection, pravastatin was the 22nd best-selling drug in the US, with total sales of $1.3 billion.

Pravastatin is quite expensive. A month's supply of even the generic form runs about $30, while the Pravachol brand costs over $100/month.