News
MONICA study: greater LDL cholesterol lowering in high-risk patients in Sweden
Trends in cholesterol levels in Sweden over the last 20 years show greater impact in individuals at high risk of cardiovascular disease, according to this report from the MONICA study. The study evaluated data from 8,941 individuals (4,546 women and 4,349 men aged 25-74 years)…
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Statin response and potential benefit from PCSK9 inhibition
A report from the JUPITER (Justification for the Use of statins in Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin) Study Group shows wide variability in the percent LDL cholesterol reduction to high-intensity statin therapy. Moreover, the cardiovascular risk reduction was directly related to percent LDL cholesterol…
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PCSK9 INHIBITION: New Therapies in Cardiovascular Risk Reduction
3rd Edition coming! Including FOURIER and other key reports from the 66th Annual Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology – ACC.2017 Elevated LDL cholesterol is one of most important drivers of atherosclerotic vascular disease, a primary cause of premature cardiovascular mortality and morbidity….
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GAUSS-3 in statin intolerance: top-line results positive with evolocumab
Amgen announced last week that the Phase III study, GAUSS-3 (Goal Achievement After Utilizing an Anti-PCSK9 Antibody in Statin Intolerant Subjects-3), evaluating evolocumab in patients with high cholesterol who cannot tolerate statins met its co-primary endpoints of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol reduction. Specifically, these related…
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ALN-PCSsc, first-in-class PCSK9 RNA interference therapeutic advances to Phase II
ALN-PCSsc, first-in-class PCSK9 RNA interference therapeutic advances to Phase II ALN-PCSsc a novel PCSK9 therapeutic that blocks PCSK9 synthesis in the liver, has now entered Phase II development, with the launch of the ORION-1 study. This study aims to enrol 480 patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular…
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More support for the benefit of PCSK9 inhibitors in chronic kidney disease
This latest report shows that reduced glomerular filtration rate (GFR), a marker of impaired renal function, has no effect on plasma PCSK9 levels, implying that PCSK9 inhibition should have similar benefit in patients with impaired renal function. Patients with impaired renal function represent an important…
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News on UK NICE appraisals – evolocumab and alirocumab
The UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued draft guidance for evolocumab and alirocumab this week. Here PCSK9 Forum reports these preliminary decisions and draft guidance for each. However, we must reiterate that both are draft and open to consultation until finalization…
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Evolocumab first PCSK9 inhibitor licensed in Japan
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has approved evolocumab (Repatha) for the treatment of patients with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH, inherited high cholesterol) or hypercholesterolaemia who are at high risk of cardiovascular events and do not adequately respond to statins. Approval was supported by…
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LY3015014: Another PCSK9 monoclonal enters the arena
Hot on the heels of alirocumab, evolocumab and bococizumab, comes the next PCSK9 monoclonal antibody, LY3015014. In this aaleport, dosing every 4 weeks with LY3015014 resulted in about 50% reduction in LDL cholesterol, comparable to that observed with these other monoclonal antibodies. LY3015014 is a…
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Looking back at 2015: what made the news?
PCSK9 Forum Editors pick the highlights of PCSK9 and cholesterol research No. 1. The promise of PCSK9 inhibition may deliver in reducing cardiovascular outcomes. In concomitant reports, treatment with alirocumab or evolocumab, on top of conventional lipid lowering therapy including statin, resulted in consistent lowering…
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PCSK9 inhibitors: What is the value of addressing unmet clinical needs in LDL management?
No doubt the PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies are effective in lowering LDL cholesterol across the spectrum of high cardiovascular risk patients. Moreover, data from a recent meta-analysis looking at clinical outcomes with these novel treatments suggested a 50% reduction in all-cause mortality and myocardial infarction (1)….
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Study questions utility of measuring PCSK9 in ACS setting
High PCSK9 levels at angiography were not predictive of 1-year mortality in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), but did predict failure to attain LDL cholesterol goal at 1 year follow-up, independent of lipid-modifying therapy or baseline LDL cholesterol levels. This study measured PCSK9 levels…
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Making Familial Hypercholesterolaemia visible
Image courtesy of the FH Foundation www.thefhfoundation.org
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HEART UK responds to NICE preliminary decision on evolocumab
HEART UK, the Cholesterol Charity, has voiced concerns about the preliminary decision by the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) against the use of evolocumab (Repatha) as a therapeutic option for management of hypercholesterolaemia and mixed dyslipidaemia. In particular, HEART UK makes…
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Norwegian study: Need for improved familial hypercholesterolaemia care in post-statin era
Familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) is the most common inherited cause of premature coronary heart disease (CHD), affecting about 1 in 200 people worldwide (1). Recent studies have also highlighted an increased risk of other cardiovascular disease, including peripheral artery disease in FH subjects (2). Considering the…
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Preliminary decision on NHS use of evolocumab (Repatha)
In preliminary guidelines released this morning, the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has decided against the use of evolocumab (Repatha) as a therapeutic option for management of hypercholesterolaemia and mixed dyslipidaemia. The lack of definitive evidence that evolocumab reduces cardiovascular events,…
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Benefit of PCSK9 inhibitors in primary hypercholesterolaemia
This meta-analysis including more than 13,000 patients showed that PCSK9 inhibitors result in superior lipid lowering compared with ezetimibe in patients with primary hypercholesterolaemia, and this is likely to translate to improved clinical outcomes. This study evaluated summarized information comparing the impact of PCSK9 inhibitors…
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Alirocumab: no impact on glycaemic control
The majority of high cardiovascular risk patients are already on statins (with or without other lipid modifying therapy). Given the small risk of incident diabetes associated with statin therapy (1), a key question is whether PCSK9 inhibition exacerbates this risk. However, pooled analyses of more…
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ALN-PCSsc data suggest 6-month dosing
There was more news from the Phase I trial of ALN-PCSsc, an investigational RNAi therapeutic targeting PCSK9, presented at the last Latebreaker Clinical Trials session. Following initial results, presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress, London, data reported at the American Heart Association Scientific…
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PCSK9 gain-of-function variants associated with higher triglycerides
The role of PCSK9 in regulating LDL receptor levels is well established. However, this study also adds to evidence implicating PCSK9 in control of very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) metabolism. In this study, 940 clinically diagnosed familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) heterozygotes were investigated for carriage of the…
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