AstraZeneca’s Headquarters in London – the company has recently announced new data in the treatment of heart failure.

AstraZeneca has announced new findings which show that adding a statin to treatments does not significantly improve the prognosis for patients with advanced heart failure.

The data comes from the CORONA study (COntrolled ROsuvastatin MultiNAtional Study in Heart Failure), a long-term study of more than 5,000 patients with chronic heart failure. CRESTOR, a trademarked statin, was added to patients’ treatment and findings show that the addition did not reverse or prevent the deterioration of a failing heart.

CRESTOR (the trademark for rosuvastatin) is a pharmaceutical agent used to lower cholesterol levels in people with cardiovascular disease and has been developed and marketed by AstraZeneca.

Elisabeth Bjork, Global Medical Science Director for CRESTOR, commented on the data: “The CORONA study was a novel and challenging study and demonstrates our commitment to advancing medical knowledge by investigating the effects of CRESTOR in challenging patient populations with unmet medical need.

“The CORONA study included patients with advance heart failure on optimal treatment who were not candidates for statin therapy in the view of the investigators and which sought to answer the question of whether or not statins provide additional benefit or might even be harmful in this population. As a result of this study, AstraZeneca has provided new scientific information to help answer these important questions.”

CORONA is part of AstraZeneca’s GALAXY clinical trials programme, designed to address important unanswered questions in statin research.

CRESTOR has received regulatory approvals in over 90 countries and over 11 million patients have been prescribed it worldwide.

To view a short video clip of key opinion leaders reviewing the CORONA study, register online at www.thenewsmarket.com/astrazeneca.

By Susanna Woods