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Merck has a potential blockbuster in anacetrapib, an experimental cholesterol drug that increases HDL, or “good” cholesterol even as it lowers LDL, the “bad” cholesterol. The drug could potentially have sales of more than $1 billion a year, John Boris, an analyst at Citigroup, wrote in a note to investors on Wednesday. But don’t hold your breath. Cardiologists, patients and investors will have to wait until at least 2015 to find out whether anacetrapib protects the heart by reducing heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems, Merck said. Anacetrapib works by inhibiting an enzyme called CETP, which is involved in transforming...

Perhaps you heard it? The wail last month from the labs of heart researchers and the offices of Wall Street analysts? Pfizer Inc., the pharmaceutical giant, halted late-stage trials of a cholesterol drug called torcetrapib after investigators discovered that it increased heart problems — and death rates — in the test population. Torcetrapib wasn’t just another scientific misfire; the drug was to have been a blockbuster heralding the transformation of cardiovascular care. Statin drugs like simvastatin (sold as Zocor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor) lower blood levels of LDL, the so-called bad cholesterol, thereby slowing the buildup of plaque in the arteries....

A drug that could be one of the most promising new heart treatments in a decade is generating controversy even before it is approved, because its maker, Pfizer, plans to sell it only in combination with the company's best-selling cholesterol treatment, Lipitor. At a cardiology conference in Orlando, Fla., today, researchers sponsored by Pfizer are expected to present positive new results about the drug, which has been shown in preliminary studies to substantially raise levels of what is known as good cholesterol, a novel approach to preventing heart disease. The new drug, called torcetrapib, still must clear many hurdles before...

<p>The future of heart disease treatment is coming into focus with a growing emphasis on potent drug cocktails that fight obesity, help smokers quit, ease inflammation and restore a healthy blood-cholesterol balance.</p> <p>The shift may arrive in time for many aging baby boomers, doctors say, with several promising drugs undergoing pivotal tests in humans.</p>

<p>Pfizer Inc. has climbed to the top of the global pharmaceutical industry on the shoulders of its blockbuster drug Lipitor, which lowers bad cholesterol. The company's hopes of staying there rest largely on a yet-to-be-proven pill that raises good cholesterol.</p>

An experimental drug can sharply increase levels of H.D.L., the good cholesterol, potentially offering an entirely new way to help prevent heart attacks, researchers have found. In a preliminary study, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Tufts University found that the drug doubled H.D.L., or high density lipoprotein, in people with worrisomely low levels of the cholesterol. The drug, called torcetrapib, also reduced low density lipoprotein, or L.D.L., the bad cholesterol. Until now, doctors have concentrated largely on lowering bad cholesterol by giving patients statin drugs, which are used by millions of Americans and reduce heart attacks by about...