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LONDON - AstraZeneca Plc is stopping a clinical trial of its blockbuster cholesterol fighter Crestor early because of the clear benefits of the medicine compared to placebo, the company said on Monday.
The news is a boost for Crestor, the group's third biggest seller, in an increasingly competitive anti-cholesterol market. It comes as doubts deepen over the value of Vytorin, a rival drug from Schering-Plough Corp and Merck & Co.
"It's a very fortuitous combination for AstraZeneca," said Nomura Code analyst Paul Diggle...

The original article can found in the Media Doctor archives.

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what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

Media Doctor typically doesn't evaluate stories which are substantially of a business nature but we made an exception in this case because the story does make claims related to the drug in question. While the lead to this story would raise some excitement, the story itself answers none of the important questions around the clinical trial of this drug which would be of interest to patients. We get no information about the evidence, the benefits and harms related to the treatment and the sources of information. This is a wire story and no effort was made to Canadianize the content so we also get no information about availability or costs of the treatment. The message in this story is that it is probably a good thing to buy the stock of the manufacturer of this drug, but unfortunately there isn't much that will help anybody decide on what medication is best to take or even if they need medication at all.

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