Schering-Plough cautious on HDL drugs

By Bill Berkrot

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Schering-Plough Corp (SGP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has one of the most successful new cholesterol drugs on the market, but its chief executive is proceeding with extreme caution before committing to developing medicines to raise "good" HDL cholesterol.

Drugs that lower "bad" LDL cholesterol -- including Vytorin, which is sold by Schering-Plough in a joint venture with Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) -- are the world's top selling prescription medicines.

HDL-raising drugs have been among the hottest new areas of drug research and cardiologist interest, but Schering-Plough has thus far remained on the sidelines.

"I still think that the area needs to be looked at very carefully," Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan said at the Reuters Health Summit in New York on Tuesday.

"If there's a way we can probe the area and prove to ourselves that it's a safe approach, then we will go after it," Hassan said.

New research has convinced Hassan of the health benefits of raising HDL levels in the blood, but just how to go about it remains the critical question.

"One has to be careful. New concepts always carry a lot of risk," Hassan said.

"When it comes to HDL there are many different kinds of HDL. How you elevate HDL is very important," he added.  Continued...