Cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to atherosclerosis continues to be the leading single cause of death in industrialized countries. High serum lipid levels, and especially high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels, have been demonstrated to strongly and directly correlate with CVD risks by numerous epidemiological studies. Moreover, large prospective clinical outcome trials have demonstrated that lowering LDL-C decreases cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. A meta-analysis of 26 randomized clinical trials comprising 170,000 participants showed that more intensive statin therapy compared to less intensive regimens will reduce coronary deaths or myocardial infarction by an additional 13%.