Discovery and development of statins trials showed very good inhibitory effect as in clinical trials, however in a long term toxicity study in dogs it resulted in toxic effects at higher doses and as a result was believed to be too toxic to be given to humans. In 1978, Alfred Alberts and colleagues at Merck Research Laboratories discovered a new natural product in a fermentation broth of "Aspergillus terreus", their product showed good HMGR inhibition and they named the product mevinolin, which later became known as lovastatin. The cholesterol controversy began in the early promotion of statins. Statins are a competitive antagonists of HMG CoA,
Discovery and development of statins 3R,5R stereochemistry. The statins differ with respect to their ring structure and substituents. These differences in structure affect the pharmacological properties of the statins, such as: Statins have sometimes been grouped into two groups of statins according to their structure. Type 1 statins Statins that have substituted decalin-ring structure that resemble the first statin ever discovered, mevastatin have often been classified as type 1 statins due to their structural relationship. Statins that belong to this group are: Type 2 statins Statins that are fully synthetic and have larger groups linked to the HMG-like moiety are often referred to as type