The Heart Protection Study was a randomized controlled trial run by the Clinical Trial Service Unit, and funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) in the United Kingdom.

It was led by Jane Armitage, an epidemiologist at the Clinical Trial Service Unit.

[6] A 2005 paper analyses the cost-effectiveness of a prescribing strategy similar to the one employed in the study.

[7] The HPS is to date the largest study to investigate the use of statins in the prevention of cardiovascular disease.

No worsening of lung disease was found, an initial concern with statin drugs, and simvastatin did not decrease osteoporosis.