Rosuvastatin: do we need another statin?

(1) Rosuvastatin (Crestor(TM)) is a new synthetic agent for the treatment and prevention of lipid disorders, a risk factor for coronary heart disease. (2) Rosuvastatin is undergoing phase III clinical trials. A New Drug Application was submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in June, 2001. No information on the regulatory status in Canada is currently available. (3) Limited evidence from small clinical trials suggests that rosuvastatin may produce larger dose-dependent decreases in total cholesterol levels and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels in hypercholesterolemic patients compared to other statins. There is insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about the safety of rosuvastatin. (4) The impact of rosuvastatin therapy on cardiac morbidity and mortality is not known. More experience is required to determine the effectiveness and relative benefits of this new drug.