A cholesterol-lowering statin, among the most prescribed medicines ever.
LIPITOR is indicated: • To reduce the risk of: o Myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, revascularization procedures, and angina in adults with multiple risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) but without clinically evident CHD o MI and stroke in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus with multiple risk factors for CHD but without clinically evident CHD o Non-fatal MI, fatal and non-fatal stroke, revascularization procedures, hospitalization for congestive heart failure, and angina in adults with clinically evident CHD • As an adjunct to diet to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in: o Adults with primary hyperlipidemia. o Adults and pediatric patients aged 10 years and older with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH). • As an adjunct to other LDL-C-lowering therapies, or alone if such treatments are unavailable, to reduce LDL-C in adults and pediatric patie…
12.1 Mechanism of Action LIPITOR is a selective, competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme that converts 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A to mevalonate, a precursor of sterols, including cholesterol. In animal models, LIPITOR lowers plasma cholesterol and lipoprotein levels by inhibiting HMG-CoA reductase and cholesterol synthesis in the liver and by increasing the number of hepatic LDL receptors on the cell surface to enhance uptake and catabolism of LDL; LIPITOR also reduces LDL production and the number of LDL particles.
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Plain-English summaries and drug-class explainers are written and reviewed by the Priya Life Science editorial team, led by Sreepriya Prasannan (MSc Digital Transformation of Life Sciences (Innopharma Education / Griffith College); MSc & BSc Botany). Data is retrieved automatically from the sources above and cross-checked with AI-assisted verification (Anthropic's Claude) — brand and generic names are matched against the exact FDA product record so that a combination product or a different formulation cannot be mistaken for the drug on this page. An editor reviews the result before publication. We describe this in full in our editorial standards and corrections policy. The FDA data on this page was last retrieved on 7 Aug 2026.