Bernd Wagner
THE ATORVASTATIN LANDMARK PROGRAM

Atorvastatin is a lipid-lowering drug that reduces elevated LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) by 39-60 % and triglycerides (TG) by 19-37 %and raises HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C) by 5-10 % in patients with high cholesterol. To date, about 50 million patient-years of experience with atorvastatin is available, compellingly demonstrating the broad acceptance of atorvastatin by the medical community.

The Atorvastatin Landmark Program (ALP) is an extensive clinical trial program with more than 400 completed and ongoing clinical trials involving more than 80,000 patients worldwide. It is dedicated to building insight through investigation. The cutting-edge research with atorvastatin includes:
- Creating data that supports atorvastatin’s efficacy and safety in a broad range of patient population. One such trial, NASDAC (New Atorvastatin Starting Doses: A Comparison), compares the efficacy and assessed the safety across the full dose range. It aims to prove that atorvastatin 80 mg is as safe as it is at 10 mg.
- Researching the benefits of atorvastatin on diseases affected by the progression of atherosclerosis. TNT (Treating to New Targets) is one of the clinical end point trials in the ALP exploring more aggressive treatment of hypercholesterolemia.
- Investigating cardiovascular disease regression. REVERSAL (REVERSing atherosclerosis with Aggressive Lipip lowering), e.g., examines by means of IVUS the effect of robust lipid-lowering with Atorvastatin compared to moderate lipid reduction with pravastatin on the progression and/or regression of coronary atherosclerosis.
- Leading the exploration of statin therapy beyond cardiovascular disease. With clinical studies such as LEADe (Lipitor’s Effect in Alzheimer’s Dementia) in special populations the efficacy of Atorvastatin is being investigated in diseases with no obvious cardiovascular etiology.

Many studies have already completed, providing a broad evidence about safety and efficacy of atorvastatin and about the complex relationship between elevated cholesterol levels and atherosclerosis. Over the next few years, a vast body of new data will be generated, helping to resolve many unanswered questions in the field of lipidology The presentation will give detailed insight into a selection of ongoing and completed clinical studies of the ALP.