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Correspondence and reprints: Or France Varin. Associate Professor, Faculte de Pharmacie, Universite de Montreal, Succ. A, c.P. 6128, Montreal, Quebec, H3C 3J7, Canada.
Erratum Vol. 24, No.3, page 195: The first 2 paragraphs of the Summary should be replaced with the following text: 'Simvastatin is a methyl analogue of lovastatin and acts as an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor effective in the treatment of hypercholesterolaemia. Like lovastatin, it is an inactive hydrophobic lactone prodrug which is metabolised in vivo to several more polar, pharmacologically active compounds, most notably the corresponding hydroxy acid form, simvastatin acid. 'HPLC techniques have been developed to assay simvastatin and its metabolites. In addition, a pharmacodynamic assay has been developed that measures HMG-CoA reductase inhibitory activity. This latter assay may be more applicable to clinical situations since simvastatin is not active, while its metabolites are.'
