Cardiovascular safety concerns over smoking cessation drug Chantix (Pfizer) misleading - 07-May-2012

A new analysis of Chantix (varenicline), from Pfizer, found no clinically or statistically significant increase in serious adverse cardiovascular events. The findings from 22 trials with more than 9,200 participants indicate a difference in risk of only 0.27 percent between those on varenicline versus placebo, or about a quarter of one percent. It included 22 double-blind, randomized controlled trials with 9,232 participants. More than half of the studies included participants with active or past history of cardiovascular disease. Eight trials had no events. Researcher Judith J. Prochaska, associate professor in UCSF's Department of Psychiatry says that the methods used by Singh and colleagues in a 2011 study (which suggested serious adverse cardiovascular events associated with varenicline) produced the most extreme estimates of treatment effect, while the new meta-analysis provides a more comprehensive examination. See: "Risk of cardiovascular serious adverse events associated with varenicline use for tobacco cessation: systematic review and meta-analysis" by Judith J Prochaska and Joan F Hilton. BMJ 4 May 2012 DOI:10.1136/bmj.e2856