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Pricey New Cholesterol Drug's Effect On Heart Disease Is More Modest Than Hoped
The injectible drug Repatha is spectacularly good at lowering cholesterol. But the first big clinical trial of its ability to prevent heart attack and stroke finds smaller benefits.
Another cardiology meeting, another big prevention trial – and questions abound. People at risk for cardiovascular disease will be wondering about the implications for them. So are the doctors. New trials take some time to digest – and yet our news cycle wants quick, succinct answers. Sometimes it is not an easy call.
So here is what happened. For the past couple of years, experts in prevention have debated the merits of two new drugs, evolocumab and alirocumab (known as Repatha and Praluent), that were approved by the FDA in 2015 for the treatment of high cholesterol.
These drugs, which emerged from some very clever basic science, were distinctive in that they simulated a favorable genetic variation and
