AstraZeneca's Crestor cuts death, heart attack

NEW ORLEANS Nov 9 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) cholesterol fighter Crestor dramatically cut deaths, heart attacks and strokes in patients with normal cholesterol but who have high levels of C-reactive protein, associated with heart disease, researchers said on Sunday.

Crestor, known chemically as rosuvastatin, succeeded in the study's composite goal by reducing heart attack, stroke, need for bypass or angioplasty procedures and cardiovascular death by 45 percent -- results deemed highly significant and nearly twice expectations going into the clinical trial.

Results of the study, funded by AstraZeneca and called Jupiter, could help open a new market for statins, already the world's biggest-selling drugs, researchers told an American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Eric Beech)