January 11th, 2013
Merck Starts to Suspend Worldwide Availability of Tredaptive
Larry Husten, PHD
In the wake of the negative HPS2-THRIVE study announced last month, Merck said today that it was beginning to suspend the worldwide availability of Tredaptive, its combination of extended-release niacin and laropiprant. Merck described its decision as being “aligned” with that of the European Medicines Agency’s Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC), which recommended on Thursday that drugs containing extended-release niacin and laropiprant should be suspended. The drug […]
January 4th, 2013
Why Has Niacin Therapy Failed to THRIVE?
William Edward Boden, MD and John Ryan, MD
In the wake of HPS2-THRIVE, John Ryan asks William E. Boden, lead investigator of the AIM-HIGH trial, for his perspective on niacin and other HDL-modifying therapies.
December 20th, 2012
HPS2-THRIVE: No Benefit, Signal of Harm for Niacin Therapy
Larry Husten, PHD
The largest-ever study of niacin has failed to show a clinical benefit of niacin and even found a strong signal of harm. Merck announced today that the HPS2-THRIVE (Heart Protection Study 2-Treatment of HDL to Reduce the Incidence of Vascular Events) study did not meet its primary endpoint. In that study, the combination of a statin and Merck’s niacin compound, Tredaptive, a combination of extended-release niacin and […]