Coronary heart disease is the single largest killer of people living in the U.S.
Some of the risk factors include hypertension, obesity, smoking, and
dyslipidemia, an irregularity of a patient`s lipid profile. Dyslipidemia covers a
variety of disorders relating to abnormal levels of total cholesterol, low-density
lipoprotein-cholesterol(LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C),
and triglycerides. The incidence of lipid metabolism disorders in hospitalized
patients has risen steadily since 1997 and has more than doubled over the
past six years
.
 Dyslipidemia can be modified by diet, exercise, and drug therapy. The most
commonly prescribed medications belong to a class of drugs called 3-hydroxyl-
3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, or "statins."
These products include atorvastatin calcium(Lipitor?, Pfizer), simvastatin
(Zocor?, Merck), pravastatin sodium(Pravachol?, Bristol-Myers Squibb),
lovastatin(Mevacor?, Merck), and fluvastatin sodium(Lescol?, Reliant).
 To varying degrees, all of these agents lower total cholesterol, LDL-C, and
triglyceride concentrations and slightly raise the HDL-C fraction. The market
share for statins has increased in proportion to the rise in the number of
patients receiving therapy for dyslipidemia
.
 Figure 2 shows that the trend toward more aggressive treatment patterns is
consistent across all products, and the sizes of the doses have been steadily
increasing.
 The statins have been so effective in controlling LDL-C levels that they are
expected to continue to dominate this market. Future progress is likely to
occur with add-on therapies, such as ezetimibe (Zetia™, Merck/Schering-
Plough), and with products that target other lipid dysfunctions associated with
HDL-C or triglycerides specifically.
 Statin is a class of lipid-lowering drugs that reduce serum cholesterol levels
by inhibiting a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of cholesterol. There is
some evidence that statin drugs may fight some forms of cancer. For more
than a decade, statins has been a boon to drug makers. Last year,
pharmaceutical companies sold $12.5 billion of the pills in the United States
alone. The drugs, which stop the liver from producing cholesterol, are so
widely used that they recently landed on the cover of Newsweek.
 The data cited in this article are available free of charge to hospitals
participating in the PharmScope Insights program. This program specializes in
helping hospital pharmacies target areas for performance improvement by
providing benchmarks from a panel of 90 hospitals nationwide. For information
about joining PharmScope Insights, a division of MediMedia USA, Inc., visit the
Web site at www mminfotech.com and click on Hospitals.


■ 기사 요지 

 메디메디아USA가 발간하는 월간 의약전문지 `P&T(Pharmacy and Therapeutics)`에 게
재된 내용으로 심혈관질환의 대표적 치료제로 자리잡고 있는 스타틴의 미국내 성장세를 보여
주고 있다.
 현재 고지혈증 치료에 가장 일반적으로 처방되는 약물은 HMG-CoA환원효소억제제(HMG-
CoA reductase inhibitor)로 불리는 스타틴이다. 표 1에서 보듯이 1997~2002년까지 미
국내 스타틴 처방률은 2배 이상 증가한 고지혈증 환자수와 함께 성장해 왔다.
 스타틴을 통한 공격적 치료 또한 확대돼 1999~2002년 사이 약물용량 증가세가 대부분의
제품에서 지속적으로 나타나고 있다. 전문가들은 이 약물의 LDL콜레스테롤 조절효과가 상당
히 뛰어나 앞으로도 스타틴의 심혈관질환약물 시장지배가 지속될 것으로 전망하고 있다.
 향후에는 제티아와 같이 HDL콜레스테롤과 트리글리세리드 조절효과의 신약들이 스타틴 시
장에서 두각을 보일 것으로 예상된다.
정리·이상돈 기자
sdlee@kimsonline.co.kr
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