I’ve been out of pocket most of the day, but saw this one by Matt Herper — and Ed Silverman’s cogent remarks on the same topics, earlier — thanks to PM (her latest, on reducing preventable inpatient death-rates, is great — do go see it, BTW!).

Sort of as a tangent off of those few — there is also, tonight, a budding CafePharma thread — in which the Schering-Plough Joint Venture faithful see CASHMERE [a small Pfizer/Lipitor study that came out inconclusively, using CIMT (carotid intima-media thickness) as a proxy-measure] as some vindication of Vytorin.

My take? “Well — that’s. just. Odd. . . .”

I am all for vigorous scientific debate — but to paint CASHMERE as vindicating Vytorin is simply wishful-thinking. I am sure someone will immediately correct me if I am wrong, here, but Vytorin has no “outcomes data” in its favor. Lipitor plainly does — tons of it.

So — I’d allow that a smallish study involving Lipitor came out inconclusively — and the use of CIMT as a measurement is now suspect. That is all relatively-fair.

It is a horse of a completely different color, though, to suggest that this means Vytorin should be, in any way, elevated to be on a par with Lipitor — as to outcomes data. That is rubbish. Simply rubbish.

Vytorin simply has no data to back that claim. None.

Lipitor now has one inconclusive study, to add to its several larger favorable outcomes studies. Doesn’t that say it all?

Have a safe and happy Fourth, one and all!