The Treating to New Targets (TNT) clinical trial found that intensive 80 mg atorvastatin (A80) treatment reduced cardiovascular events by 22% when compared to 10 mg atorvastatin (A10) treatment. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of intensive A80 vs A10 treatment in the United Kingdom (UK), Spain, and Germany. A lifetime Markov model was developed to predict cardiovascular disease-related events, costs, survival, and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Treatment-specific event probabilities were estimated from the TNT clinical trial. Post-event survival, health-related quality of life, and country-specific medical-care costs were estimated using published sources. Intensive treatment with A80 increased both the per-patient QALYs and corresponding costs of care, when compared to the A10 treatment, in all three countries. The incremental cost per QALY gained was <euro> 9,500, <euro> 21,000, and <euro> 15,000 in the UK, Spain, and Germany, respectively. Intensive A80 treatment is estimated to be cost-effective when compared to A10 treatment in secondary cardiovascular prevention.