New drug found to prevent heart attacks in high-risk patients - Scientists

Scientists claim to have found a new drug that can prevent heart attacks and strokes by cutting bad cholesterol levels to an unthinkable lows, a treatment that doctors hope may prevent future heart attacks or stroke in high-risk patients.

An international trial by London scientists of 27,000 patients in 49 countries found that those who took the drug evolocumab saw their bad cholesterol levels fall by around 60 per cent on average. 

The patients in the trial were already taking statins, which are used to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.

Despite this, the patients who took evolocumab saw their bad cholesterol levels fall even further.
Patients who took the drug were also less likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke than those who took the placebo.

However, the injectable drug, Repatha, also called a PCSK9 inhibitor comes at a high price: approximately $14,000 a year. The drug appears to cut LDL or "bad" cholesterol to extremely low levels, more than statins or lifestyle changes in people who had prior heart attacks or were at high risk.

The study found that for every 74 people who took the drug for two years, one heart attack or stroke would be prevented.
However, the study found that the drug had no impact on the rate of cardiovascular mortality.

"This is one of the most important trials of cholesterol-lowering since the first statin trial, published 20 years ago, said Professor Peter Sever, from Imperial College London, which led the UK branch of the study.

"Our results suggest this new, extremely potent class of drug can cut cholesterol dramatically, which could provide great benefit for a lot of people at risk of heart disease and stroke."

CHD is responsible for more than 73,000 deaths a year in the UK, and occurs when fatty substances build up in the arteries, making it harder for blood to get to the heart.

The findings is published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Press Association