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Cardiovascular Outcomes with Ezetimibe and Simvastatin Similar to Statin Alone, Claims Data Suggest

Business Wire, Nov 18, 2009

Retrospective Analysis of Almost 30,000 Patients Shows No
Significant Difference in Risk of Heart Attack or Stroke with
Monotherapy Compared With Combination Therapy

IRVINE, Calif. — Prescription Solutions, a leading pharmacy benefits management (PBM)
organization and a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) company, released a
study that found no significant differences in cardiovascular outcomes
when comparing the effectiveness of ezetimibe/simvastatin to equipotent
doses of simvastatin or atorvastatin alone.

The findings were presented at the American Heart Association annual
Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

The large-scale, population-based study examined de-identified
electronic pharmacy and medical claims data from multiple health
insurance plans with membership across the United States for three
groups of patients: those receiving combination therapy
simvastatin/ezetimibe, those receiving simvastatin alone, and those
receiving atorvastatin alone. There were approximately 10,000 patients
in each group.

In this large cohort of patients at high risk for future adverse
cardiovascular outcomes, there were no significant differences in health
outcomes measured when comparing combination therapy to monotherapy
alone, said Scott D. Ramsey, M.D., Ph.D, a member of the faculty of the
University of Washington School of Medicine and School of Pharmacy.
Longer-term follow-up studies are needed to determine whether the
apparent lack of difference in cardiovascular outcomes between these
approaches persists over time.

According to Dr. Joseph Addiego, chief medical officer for Prescription
Solutions, This study adds to the growing body of scientific literature
on statins used to lower cholesterol, one of the most commonly
prescribed classes of drugs in America. Our population-based,
retrospective claims analysis provides additional support to the safety
and clinical benefits of this class of drugs as the medical community
awaits results of the large IMPROVE-IT study due to be reported in 2012.

Prescription Solutions conducted this study because cholesterol-lowering
drugs, particularly statins, are among its most widely prescribed
medications. The company routinely conducts scientific studies on
various disease states as a way to use its clinical expertise to advance
the practice of medicine and add to the scientific literature. This is a
key element of Prescription Solutions ongoing search for the most
current, highest quality evidence available to enable it to provide the
best, most cost-effective medications to its beneficiaries.

About Prescription Solutions

Prescription Solutions is an innovative pharmacy benefit management
company managing the prescription drug benefit of commercial, Medicare
and other governmental health plans, as well as those of employers and
unions. A UnitedHealth Group company, Prescription Solutions serves
members through a national network of 64,000 community pharmacies and
state-of-the-art mail service pharmacies in Carlsbad, California, and
Overland Park, Kansas, which have both earned the prestigious Verified
Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites (VIPPS) accreditation by the National
Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP)
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