New AHA Guidelines may favour Crestor (AstraZeneca)

New American Heart Association guidelines recommend a risk-based analysis. Instead of prescribing based on levels of so-called "bad" cholesterol, or LDL, and tailoring drug and dosage to lowering LDL past a specific threshold, the new guidelines look at those figures as part of a broader calculation of heart-disease risk. Patients whose age, family history, history of smoking, and cholesterol numbers,among other factors,put them at higher risk of heart disease should take the drugs. Those whose cardiovascular risk is highest, including patients with diabetes and those with LDL cholesterol over 190, should take high doses or higher-powered statins. Follow-up cholesterol testing is now not required.

According to Bloomberg, the new rules will put 33 million people in line for statin therapy, about twice as many as the number covered by current guidelines. Forbes, however, says experts who have advocated a similar approach estimate the number of statin patients would decline. AstraZeneca, will want physicians to be encouraged by these new guidelines particularly when it comes to the recommendation for potent drugs for the riskiest patients as Crestor (rosuvastatin) has long been seen as a high-powered solution for the hardest-to-treat patients. The other option for these vulnerable patients would be high doses of Lipitor from Pfizer or other generics .