JW Pharmaceutical said Tuesday that its dyslipidemia drug Rivaro (ingredient: pitavastatin) induced fewer side effects, such as diabetes, than other statin drugs through a study conducted in Taiwan.

In a recent study conducted in Taiwan, JW Pharmaceutical’s Rivaro (ingredient: pitavastatin) induced fewer side effects, including diabetes, than other statin drugs.
In a recent study conducted in Taiwan, JW Pharmaceutical’s Rivaro (ingredient: pitavastatin) induced fewer side effects, including diabetes, than other statin drugs.

Researchers compared the cumulative risk of developing diabetes, hepatitis, and myopathy among participant groups that received pitavastatin and statin products in the study. They found that those administered with low- and high-dose statins showed 12 and 6 percent higher risks, respectively.

The research team, led by Professor Jia-Ling Lin of the Department of Internal Medicine at the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, analyzed the risk of statin-related adverse reactions, focusing on the risk of harmful side effects induced by statins remaining as a significant matter for Asians.

Statin therapies are typical treatments for dyslipidemia that lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).

The study was based on patient information registered between 2013 and 2017 with Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Administration. The research team targeted 152,805 new male patients above 45 and females older than 55 without diabetes and histories of taking statin-based treatments.

After comparing the cumulative risk of developing the side effects of diabetes, hepatitis, and myopathy in each group, the rate of new-onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) was 11 percent in the low-dose statin group.

The participants who took statin drugs also had a 21 higher risk of developing hepatitis. However, the research team could not find a significant difference in myopathy.

“We obtained significant data on the safety of pitavastatin through a comparative study between statin products, the most commonly prescribed medicines for dyslipidemia,” a JW official said. “Based on such academic grounds, we will step up our marketing activities for Rivaro.”

Rivaro is the only statin-based medicine that is diabetes-free in the summary of product characteristics marketing in 32 countries.

Rivarozet, an improved drug with a combination of pitavastatin and ezetimibe, was also launched for the first time in Korea. It has drawn attention as a new option for patients burdened with high-dose statin prescriptions by reducing LDL-C down to 50 percent.

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