VYTORIN STUDY: A safety monitoring board doing a planned interim analysis of a long study of Merck's Vytorin cholesterol pill decided there are no serious safety problems, so the study can continue. ANALYSTS' TAKE: That result was generally expected, and Vytorin sales likely will ...

Sales of Merck & Co.'s blockbuster cholesterol drug Vytorin likely will continue to fall amid rising competition from rival brands and generic versions in the same class of pills, an analyst predicted Friday. Bernstein Research analyst Tim Anderson gave his assessment after the drugmaker ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merck & Co on Thursday said an independent data safety monitoring board has approved continuation of a big study meant to determine whether its blockbuster Vytorin cholesterol drug prevents heart attacks and stroke. Merck said a green light for the so-called "IMPROVE-IT" study to continue was given after the panel conducted an interim analysis of safety and ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Only half of patients at high risk of heart disease are given the right targets for cutting their cholesterol and millions may suffer heart attack or stroke due to doctors' poor advice, scientists said on Thursday. German researchers said that over 10 years, around 50 to 80 heart attacks, strokes and heart disease-related deaths per 1,000 patients ...