AHA recognizes PCSK9 inhibitor, evolocumab, as the top advancement in heart disease
In its list of top heart disease and stroke advancements of 2017, the AHA named evolocumab – a new PCSK9 antagonist – as one of them. The AHA published this annual list on February 8, 2018 This novel drug for lowering cholesterol is expensive.
In its annual list, published on 8th February 2017, the AHA named the PCSK9-inhibitor evolocumab one of the 10 most important heart disease and stroke advancements of 2017. This novel drug for lowering cholesterol is not cheap. This article was originally published on LongevityFacts. Brady Hartman is the author.
The AHA published its top 10 list of major advancements in heart disease and stroke treatment research on February 8, which included the cholesterol-lowering drug, evolocumab. Evolocumab is a cholesterol-lowering drug that belongs to the PCSK9 inhibitor class. It’s an injectable drug sold by Amgen as Repatha. In the two-year FOURIER trial, evolocumab was found to reduce high cholesterol levels with few side effects.
The FOURIER Study, published in New England Journal of Medicine found that evolocumab significantly reduced heart attacks and strokes for high-risk patients. The study involved more than 27,000 patients, who were randomly assigned to take evolocumab, or a control, and found that this new drug is superior to statins at reducing LDL (bad cholesterol). FOURIER found that adding the new medication to intensive statin treatment reduced the risk of a stroke, heart attack or other cardiovascular event by 20%. Amgen funded the study, which reported that evolocumab reduced LDL cholesterol by 60% to a median level of 30mg/dL.
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AHA names PCSK9 inhibitor evolocumab as a top advance in heart disease
