A tablet designed to prevent cardiovascular disease by combining medicines to lower blood pressure and a statin to lower cholesterol added ammunition to the argument that the polypill approach works. Blood pressure and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels dropped as predicted in people 50 years and older who took a daily polypill, according to a study published online July 18 in PLoS One.

In an update of guidelines that outline care for patients with unstable angina and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), task force members determined that ticagrelor should be considered along with clopidogrel and prasugrel for antiplatelet therapy. Aspirin retained its position as the first-line therapy for NSTEMI patients immediately after hospitalization.

Pfizer said it is confident it can fend off a lawsuit filed by five retailers who claim the drug company and the generic drug manufacturer Ranbaxy Laboratories conspired to stall sales of the generic version of Lipitor.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) pleaded guilty to a count of failing to report safety data surrounding its diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) as part of a fraud investigation that includes a $3 billion settlement.

Bristol-Myers Squibb will acquire Amylin in a deal totaling $7 billion after the companies boards of directors unanimously approved the acquisition.

With this edition, we bring you the two-part installment of the FDAs Circulatory Systems Devices Panel meeting on June 13 that led to the recommendation to approve Edwards Lifesciences Sapien heart valve system for the indication to treat patients with severe, systematic aortic stenosis who are at a high risk for surgery. Now lets look at who these potential patients may be.

Despite concerns of bleeding with dabigatran, a substudy published online June 14 in Circulation of the RE-LY trial found the drug had comparable rates of peri-operative bleeding and thrombotic complications when compared with warfarin. Additionally, researchers found that the subset of patients receiving dabigatran were four times more likely to have the procedure done within 48 hours of stopping anticoagulation.

The cardiovascular community has been buzzing about transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures ever since the results of the PARTNER trial showed procedural benefits for inoperable aortic stenosis patients. Now, luminaries at the FDA Circulatory Systems Devices Panel are attempting to take the use of the technology a step further and tack on an additional indication for Edwards Lifesciences' Sapien heart valve system: treating patients with severe, symptomatic aortic stenosis who are high risk for surgery.