Brands of Statin Drugs

There are six currently prescribed forms of statin drugs with a range of effectiveness. One of the strongest and most effective statins is rosuvastatin, which is sold by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca under the name of Crestor. It was approved for sale in the United States in 2003, and is available in 5, 10, 20 or 40 mg. tablets to be taken once daily. While acknowledged as a powerful statin, Crestor has recently been criticized for not being thoroughly investigated before entering the drug market.

Another effective statin is atorvastatin, which is manufactured by Pfizer and sold under the name of Lipitor. According to Pfizer, Lipitor is the most researched statin drug on the market. Lipitor is 100% synthetic, versus many of the other statins which are derived from fungus. Lipitor may also be used to reduce triglycerides as well as reducing blood pressure and lowering LDL levels. It is taken once per day in a dosage level decided by a doctor.

Simvastatin, which is manufactured by Merck and Co. and sold by the name of Zocor, is a powerful statin that may decrease LDL cholesterol levels by up to 50%. It was approved by the FDA in 1991, and can be prescribed for patents 10 years of age and older. It is a HMG-CoA enzyme inhibitor like all statins. Some people should not take Zocor, including those with allergies to the following inactive ingredients in Zocor: celluslose, lactose, magnesium stearate, iron oxides, talc, titanium dioxide and starch. More on simvastatin.

Pravastatin, a statin drug manufactured by Bristol-Meyers Squibb and sold under the name Pravachol or Pravigard, is an enzyme blocker that is derived from a mold called Nocardia autotrophica. It can be prescribed for patients as young as eight years of age, and was approved by the FDA in 1991. Pravachol and Pravigard are taken in tablet form once daily, and like all statins should be combined with a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet for maximum effectiveness. More on pravastatin.

Fluvastatin, which is produced by Novartis and sold under the name Lescol or Lescol XL, was first approved by the FDA in 1993. Lescol is one of the milder statin drugs, and can be combined with therapeutic lifestyle changes (such as a low-fat diet or increased exercise) to lower LDL cholesterol levels. It is available in capsule form or in extended-release tablet to be take orally once or twice a day at night. More on fluvastatin.

Lovastatin, which is prescribed under the names Mevacor, Advicor or Altoprev and manufactured by Merck and Co., was first approved in 1987. It is derived from Aspergillus terreus, and is used in tandem with diet changes (particularly the restriction of fat and cholesterol intake) in order to reduce amounts of cholesterol and other fatty substances in the blood. Mevacor is prescribed as either a normal tablet or an extended-release tablet to be taken orally once or twice a day with meals. Meals should low-cholesterol and low-fat, and large amounts of grapefruit juice (more than one quart a day) should be avoided while taking Mevacor. More on lovastatin and mevacor.

All of the above six statin drugs fall into two groups: fermentation-derived or synthetic. The fermentation-derived statins include lovastatin, simvastatin, and pravastatin, while the synthetic group is composed of fluvastatin, atorvastatin, and rosuvastatin. Another classification groups the fermentation-derived statins into Type 1 and the synthetic statins into Type 2. The Type 1 drugs have chemical structures similar to mevastatin.

A seventh form of statin drug, cerivastatin (Baycol), was taken off the market in 2001 by its manufacturer Bayer because of its serious side-effects.

Generics

Generics are popular partly because of their lower cost. In 2006 the patents on both pravastatin and simvastatin (Pravachol and Zoror) expired, and generic versions of these medicines hit the market. This may have contributed to the increased number of prescriptions written in the past couple of years.

More on brands

You might often see news stories reporting that one statin is more effective than another. A group of scientists published a criticism of company-sponsored studies. They found that when pharmaceutical companies put up the money to fund the study, the results appear to be unreliable. Some of these studies were too small and were done for marketing purposes. Company-sponsored trials favor their own drug, which doesn't necessarily mean that the company's drug isn't better than the competition, but you need to look at the sources of these claims.

Torcetrapib was a failed statin drug.