Pfizer’s Lipitor Provides Greater Reductions In Heart Attack, Stroke And Cardiovascular Procedures At An Overall Cost Savings Compared To Zocor (Part 1)
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Pfizer Inc said today that a new economic analysis that compares outcomes for patients taking Lipitor to those taking Zocor shows that Lipitor patients had greater reductions in heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular procedures. This provides a cost savings for payors in long-term hospitalizations and surgical costs.
The economic analysis examined the results from the IDEAL (Incremental Decrease in Endpoints Through Aggressive Lipid Lowering) trial to analyze the cost effectiveness of treatment with Lipitor and Zocor (simvastatin) in Sweden, where Zocor is available generically as simvastatin. The IDEAL patients who received Lipitor (80 mg) achieved greater reductions in heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular procedures compared to patients taking standard dose Zocor (20-40 mg).
The results also showed that one out of every six heart attacks, strokes or cardiovascular procedures could be avoided for coronary heart disease patients treated with intensive Lipitor therapy above and beyond those treated with Zocor over 4.8 years.
These results were then applied to the U.S. health care system, with two key findings:
– Better efficacy was achieved in patients taking Lipitor, at a better overall value, compared to patients on standard Zocor therapy; and Patients taking Lipitor achieved greater reductions in cardiovascular events, and the system had overall cost savings, compared to patients taking Zocor at the current U.S. price, and even when Zocor was discounted by 50 percent.
In the U.S., cardiovascular disease remains the nation’s leading health threat, and accounts for an estimated 500,000 recurrent heart attacks and 200,000 recurrent debilitating strokes annually.
“The economic impact of heart attacks and strokes in the U.S. alone totals nearly $403 billion in medical care and lost productivity annually,” said Dr. Peter Lindgren, Stockholm Health Economics. “This analysis suggests that the cost of using Lipitor versus generic simvastatin could represent a good value for money.”
“Even if the current U.S. price of Zocor were reduced by 75 percent, Lipitor patients could still achieve better cardiovascular outcomes at an increase to payors of less than one dollar a day,” said Dr. Gregg Larson, vice president cardiovascular medical at Pfizer. “While the economic cost of a stroke can be exorbitant, often entailing years of rehabilitation and supervised care the emotional impact on patients and their families is also devastating.”