Bayer pulls anti-cholesterol drug from Japan
- 12:58 24 August 2001
- From New Scientist Print Edition.
Pharmaceutical giant Bayer has withdrawn its key anti-cholesterol drug from Japan - the drug's last remaining market - following concerns that it may be linked to more than 50 deaths worldwide.
Thirty one people in the US and others in Spain, France and Germany have reportedly suffered fatal muscle weakness after taking Lipobay (marketed as Baycol in the US). The drug was withdrawn from the US and other markets earlier in August.
Lipobay is a statin - a group of drugs used by millions of people around the world, primarily to reduce cholesterol. According to the US FDA, all statins have been associated with very rare reports of potentially fatal muscle weakness. But there have been more reports following the use of Lipobay than of any other statin.
Bayer says the side-effects are caused mostly by the simultaneous use of another anti-cholesterol drug called gemfibrozil. This drug is about to be launched in Japan.
With the withdrawal of Lipobay worldwide, analysts estimate that the Bayer group will lose about a quarter of its revenues. Families of the 52 deaths linked to the drug are reportedly planning to sue for compensation. The group's liability could run to an estimated $3 billion.
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