Pitavastatin approved for treatment of primary hypercholesterolemia and combined dyslipidemia

Abstract

Pitavastatin was first developed in Japan and is expanding the regions in which it is clinically available. A considerable number of clinical studies have been conducted and published to date on the usefulness of pitavastatin for patients with primary hypercholesterolemia or combined dyslipidemia. Pitavastatin demonstrates potent low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction at low doses of 1–4 mg/day. It also affects the regression of coronary plaques, as observed in intravascular ultrasound-guided percutaneous coronary intervention studies. Moreover, the persistent, long-term high-density lipoprotein cholesterol elevation observed in the populations treated with pitavastatin is worthy of further attention. The reported improvements in lipid profiles are consistent among the studies conducted in Japan, Korea, Thailand, and Europe. In light of accumulating clinical experience worldwide, pitavastatin is now expected to establish its position for preventing and treating cardiovascular disease.

Keywords:

• randomized clinical trial
• Japan
• Korea
• Thailand
• Europe

Acknowledgment

Kowa Company Ltd provided the information on the randomized active-controlled clinical research of pitavastatin already published but not found in the search result in PubMed.

Disclosure

The author reports no conflict of interest in this work.