AstraZeneca and Abbott Laboratories said they plan to co-develop and market a combination cholesterol drug. The pill would combine AZ’s cholesterol-lowering drug Crestor with Abbott’s ABT-335, currently in Phase III clinical trials for raising HDL or “good” cholesterol and reducing triglycerides. The companies say they also will evaluate a combination drug based on Crestor and Abbott’s TriCor, which is approved for lowering triglycerides. TriCor is licensed to Abbott for US marketing by Solvay. ABT-335 is a next-generation version of TriCor. Final selection between the two drugs will be made based upon data generated from initial studies, the companies said, with FDA filing expected in 2009.