Long-Term Risks To Statin Sales? (MRK, PFE, AZN)

We have run a full feature story over at BioHealthInvestor.com after reading a study that came off the Mayo Clinic site.  The study showed that a combination of fish oil and red rice yeast in combination along with a 12-week multidisciplinary lifestyle program generated much of the same results as a statin alone in lowering LDL Cholesterol.  Stocks we covered in this include Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and AstraZeneca plc (NYSE: AZN).  There are many others which could have been included, but this study went head to head with Merck’s Zocor (off of exclusivity).

It is a huge stretch to believe that this will replace or eliminate traditional pharmaceutical treatments such as statins and other cholesterol treatments (same for triglycerides, blood pressure, and other issues).  But it does lend at least some credibility to the shot that down the road some treatments involving over the counter supplements and behavior modification combined could make a large dent in that pool of the millions of Americans who just pop pills written by the Doctor.

In that full feature story, we ran some alternative thoughts where this could also be applied in other treatment areas and we showed a break-down of just how large these sales are in 2007.

Jon C. Ogg
July 8, 2008