On 27 June 2011, at the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) congress, Kowa Pharmaceutical Europe announced results from a post marketing surveillance study showing pitavastatin provides consistent long-term increases in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in a broad range of patients with hypercholesterolaemia.
The data from the Livalo Effectiveness and Safety (LIVES) Study Extension showed a relationship between on-treatment serum HDL-C levels and cardiovascular risk, and that pitavastatin consistently provided clinically relevant elevations in HDL-C that continued to increase over five years.
“The results of the LIVES Study Extension highlight the benefits of pitavastatin in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease. Not only does pitavastatin consistently increase HDL-C levels, but it also has additional patient benefits that help to reduce cardiovascular disease. We very much look forward to seeing the full results anticipated at a later date,” said Tamio Teramoto, dean and chairman of Internal Medicine, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Japan.
Recently published guidance from the EAS recommends that physicians target elevated LDL-C and decreased HDL-C, both of which are recognised as risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Study results have shown that pitavastatin could be beneficial to patients as it reduces LDL-C and consistently raises HDL-C over long-term treatment.
In addition, further Kowa data are being announced at EAS, which demonstrates that pitavastatin has beneficial anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, in addition to its direct effects on cholesterol levels. The additional benefits of pitavastatin include consistently decreasing levels of oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in at-risk patients during long-term treatment. Both of these are associated with atherosclerosis.
