LIPITOR PREVENTS RECURRING HEART ATTACKS BETTER THAN ZOCOR, STUDY SAYS

For patients who have recently suffered a heart attack, Pfizer's Lipitor may reduce the risk of a recurrence by 46 percent compared with Zocor, according to trial results released Sept. 6 by Pfizer.

Heart attack survivors given an 80-mg dose of Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) also showed a 34 percent reduction in the risk of other major coronary events -- including cardiac death and cardiac arrests -- compared with patients taking a 20- to 40-mg dose of Zocor (simvastatin).

"Lipitor is the only statin to show a significant benefit in these very high risk heart disease patients, and has demonstrated greater benefits than both simvastatin and pravastatin in clinical trials studying these patients," said Joseph Feczko, Pfizer's chief medical officer.

The safety profiles were similar between the two groups in the IDEAL trial, which represents the longest follow-up of patients with a recent heart attack on statin therapy, according to Pfizer.