Content about Simvastatin

It’s been cited as one of the biggest health crises facing the United States and, if solved, the equivalent dollar value of a blockbuster drug. According to the latest statistics from pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts, poor medication adherence costs the country $317 billion per year, an upgrade from the $290 billion calculated in a study released in 2009 by the New England Healthcare Institute.


WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — Mylan will be barred from marketing a generic version of a Merck cardiovascular drug until the drug's patent expires, under a court ruling announced Friday.

Merck said the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled against Mylan in two patent infringement suits related to the drugs Zetia (ezetimibe) and Vytorin (ezetimibe and simvastatin). Specifically, the court ruled that a patent covering the drug, RE 42,461, is valid and enforceable and enjoined Mylan from launching until the patents expiration in April 2017.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug that it called the first single-pill combination treatment for Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.

The FDA approved Merck's Juvisync (sitagliptin and simvastatin), manufactured by Merck subsidiary MSD International GmbH Clonmel Co., based in Tipperary, Ireland. Merck operates under the name MSD outside the United States and Canada in order to avoid confusion with Germany-based Merck KGaA.

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. — A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee has voted to recommend that the FDA retain approval of an Abbott drug for high cholesterol in combination with a statin.

The FDA’s Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee met Thursday to discuss whether to recommend continued FDA approval of Trilipix (fenofibric acid) in combination with simvastatin in patients with mixed dyslipidemia and a high risk of heart disease. The FDA is not bound by advisory committee votes, but usually follows them.

HAYWARD, Calif. — Generic drug maker Impax Labs is challenging the patent covering a drug used to treat high cholesterol, the company said Friday.

Impax said it had filed an approval application with the Food and Drug Administration for niacin and simvastatin extended-release tablets in the 1,000 mg/20 mg strength. The drug is a generic version of Abbott Labs’ Simcor.

PHILADELPHIA Drug advertisements that tie disease risks with family history can influence consumers' choice of medications and have a beneficial effect on those consumers' lifestyle choices, according to a study published in the August issue of the Journal of Applied Communication Research.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT CVS Caremark made a major push to showcase the tools it uses to curb costs as it revealed a study indicating that more lax generic regulations could save states millions of dollars, not to mention that its annual insights report revealed an increase in generic dispensing rates.

(THE NEWS: CVS Caremark study: Less restrictive generic laws could curb state Medicaid costs. For the full story, click here)