Ezetimibe ['Zetia'], a novel cholesterol absorption inhibitor, is well tolerated and provides additional benefit to statin therapy in patients with primary hypercholesterolaemia, according to results from five studies presented at the XIVth World Congress of Cardiology (WCC) [Sydney, Australia; May 2002]. Coadministration of ezetimibe and statins resulted in significant reductions in LDL-cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and increases in HDL-cholesterol levels, compared with statin monotherapy. In one study, the addition of ezetimibe to patients' existing statin regimens had a significantly greater effect on lipid levels than placebo. Four parallel studies evaluating the effects of ezetimibe and/or various doses of a statin (lovastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin and atorvastatin, respectively) showed that the combination of the two agents was consistently more effective than monotherapy with either agent. Combination therapy with ezetimibe provided comparable LDL-cholesterol reductions at lower statin doses, compared with statin monotherapy, in all four studies; this is likely to be of significant benefit to patients because of the reduced potential for statin-related toxicity at lower doses.