INEGY™ (ezetimibe/simvastatin) was significantly more effective at influencing coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors than Lipitor (atorvastatin) in type 2 diabetes patients with hypercholesterolemia according to results of two analyses presented at the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) meeting in Helsinki, Finland.1,2 Data showed that treatment with INEGY resulted in significantly more patients with type 2 diabetes reaching optional recommended levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol (LDL-C) and achieved predefined values for apolipoprotein B (ApoB), non-HDL-cholesterol (non-HDL-C), compared to those treated with atorvastatin, at all doses investigated.1 In addition, INEGY also produced significantly greater reductions in a variety of lipoprotein and apolipoprotein ratios. 2

Type 2 diabetes is associated with a two- to fourfold increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), 3 and one study showed that up to 80 percent of adult type 2 diabetic patients die from CVD.4 The risk of CVD in diabetes patients is so great that the NCEP ATP III* guidelines consider diabetes patients with no history of cardiovascular disease at equivalent risk to patients with diagnosed CHD.5,6 However, intensive lipid lowering therapy can be beneficial for diabetes patients and using the UKPDS risk engine model, it was calculated to contribute approximately 70 percent of the total calculated risk reduction in CVD events in a multi-factorial interventional study in type 2 diabetics with microalbuminuria.7,8

* NCEP ATP III is the U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults, a set of guidelines for effective patient identification, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment.

"A high proportion of people with type 2 diabetes also suffers from elevated cholesterol levels and are at high risk of developing coronary heart disease. Therefore, it is important that such patients reach their LDL-C goal as quickly and effectively as possible through aggressive lipid management in line with treatment guidelines by the Taskforce on Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases of the ESC and of the EASD, which recommend LDL-C goals of