A new drug has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes by cutting levels of 'bad' cholesterol, according to a major international trial. The study, involving 27,000 patients, found that those taking the drug evolocumab saw their low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels fall by an average of 60%.
All participants in the trial were already taking statins, the standard treatment for high cholesterol. Despite this, those who received injections of evolocumab experienced further reductions in LDL cholesterol and were less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke compared to those given a placebo. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, indicate that for every 74 people treated with the drug for two years, one heart attack or stroke would be prevented.
However, the study found that evolocumab had no impact on the rate of cardiovascular mortality. Professor Peter Sever from Imperial College London, who led the UK branch of the study, described it as 'one of the most important trials of cholesterol-lowering since the first statin trial, published 20 years ago'. He added that the results suggest this new class of drug could provide great benefit for many people at risk of heart disease and stroke.
Coronary heart disease affects around 2.3 million people in the UK and causes over 73,000 deaths annually. It occurs when fatty substances build up in the arteries, restricting blood flow to the heart. Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, noted that while statins have significantly reduced heart disease risk, they are not tolerated by everyone and only reduce cholesterol by a certain amount. He said that blocking the action of PCSK9, a molecule that reduces the breakdown of LDL cholesterol in the liver, could prove life-saving for patients with high cholesterol and those who cannot tolerate statins.
