A prodrug of lovastatin hydroxy acid; a potent and competitive inhibitor of HMG-CoA reductase (Kis = 1.4 and 0.6 nM for lovastatin and lovastatin hydroxy acid, respectively); reduces plasma cholesterol by 29% in dogs over a period of three weeks at a dose of 8 mg/kg/day; suppresses TNF-induced NF-κB activation (IC50 ~ 15 μM),