CRESTOR Cuts Risk of Stroke by Nearly Half in JUP...( SAN DIEGO Feb. 19 /- A new analysis f...),Health

SAN DIEGO, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new analysis from the JUPITER study presented today at the International Stroke Conference (ISC) in San Diego, California describes details of the stroke data according to gender, ethnicity and baseline risk factors. This data adds to the primary analysis of the JUPITER study which demonstrated that CRESTOR(R) (rosuvastatin calcium) 20mg significantly reduced the risk of stroke by nearly half (48%; p=0.002), compared to placebo among men and women with elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) but low to normal cholesterol levels.

"Each year in the U.S. about 795,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke and about 610,000 of these are first attacks," said Alex Gold, MD, Executive Director, Clinical Development, CRESTOR U.S. "This analysis of the JUPITER data evaluated rosuvastatin 20 mg across a number of sub groups with notable benefits in higher risk patients, including those older than 70 years, cigarette smokers, hypertensives, those with an elevated Framingham risk score, and those with a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level at or above 5 mg/L at baseline."

There was no increase in the risk of hemorrhagic stroke (p=0.44 vs. placebo) in patients treated with rosuvastatin. Rosuvastatin 20mg was well tolerated in nearly 9,000 patients during the course of the JUPITER study.

Initial results from JUPITER, originally presented in November 2008 at the American Heart Association's Annual Scientific Sessions, and published by the New England Journal of Medicine, showed rosuvastatin 20mg significantly reduced major cardiovascular (CV) events (combined risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, arterial revascularization, hospitalization for unstable angina, or death from CV causes) by 44%, compared to placebo (p<0.00001). These results also showed that for patients in the trial taking rosuvastatin 20mg combined risk of heart attack, stroke or
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