New Heart Drug Torcetrapib: Available Only in Combination?
A drug called torcetrapib could be one of the most promising new heart treatments in a decade, but it is generating controversy even before it is approved. Pfizer plans to sell it only in combination with its best-selling cholesterol agent atorvastatin (Lipitor drug). The new drug must clear many hurdles, including concerns that it may raise blood pressure. It will not reach the market before 2007.
Some cardiologists say that Pfizer could offer torcetrapib as a stand-alone tablet so that patients could take it either with generic atorvastatin or with similar drugs that might work better for them. It might even work best by itself in some cases.
Pfizer says that combining the drugs makes sense because they are complementary. Statins reduce “bad” cholesterol; torcetrapib raises “good” cholesterol.
