AstraZeneca also announced today that it has published company-sponsored clinical trial and post marketing safety data about CRESTOR on the Internet. The site is intended to provide a comprehensive, scientific summary of information about CRESTOR.

The rosuvastatin clinical trial registry provides an easily accessible source of data from AstraZeneca-sponsored clinical trials with CRESTOR. AstraZeneca is committed to the ethical conduct of clinical research, and to facilitating full and open access to the findings of this research. Therefore, access to this registry is unrestricted, following acceptance of terms and conditions.

The site is now live and available via the AstraZeneca corporate website: http://www.rosuvastatininformation.com

The full paper by Shepherd et al is available via the AstraZeneca clinical trials registry website, however, key findings were:

-- In fixed-dose trials with comparator statins CRESTOR 5 to 40 mg showed a similar adverse event profile to those for atorvastatin 10 to 80 mg, simvastatin 10 to 80 mg, and pravastatin 10 to 40 mg

-- Clinically significant elevations in alanine aminotransferase (>3 times the upper limit of normal [ULN]) and creatine kinase (>10 times ULN) were uncommon (0.2%) in the CRESTOR and comparator statin groups

-- Dipstick-positive proteinuria at rosuvastatin doses £40 mg was comparable to that seen with other statins, and the development of proteinuria was not predictive of acute or progressive renal disease

-- No deaths in the program were attributed to CRESTOR

-- No rhabdomyolysis occurred in patients receiving CRESTOR 5 to 40 mg

CRESTOR is now approved in 64 countries worldwide and is taken by more than three million patients to reduce their LDL-C. Over 10 million prescriptions have now been written for CRESTOR worldwide.

People with raised levels of LDL-C are predisposed to cardiovascular disease, which kills over 17 million people worldwide each year.