Bempedoic acid cuts LDL by 20–25%, heart attacks by 23%: study

A four-year, worldwide clinical trial of a new drug containing bempedoic acid, involving 14,000 people in 32 countries, has shown to help patients lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 20–25%.

The trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), also demonstrated the following benefits: reduced cardiovascular complications by 13%; reduced heart attacks by 23%; and reduced coronary revascularisations (a procedure to open blocked arteries) by 19%.

More than 300 Australian patients with high cholesterol took part in the research and trial co-led by Professor Stephen Nicholls, Director of the Victorian Heart Hospital and Victorian Heart Institute, based at the Monash University Clayton campus.

Currently, 2.5 million Australians take statins to lower their cholesterol. Nicholls said about 20% of patients on statins had tolerance issues and about 50% of high-risk patients didn’t get their cholesterol down to target levels so they need other options.

“This new drug provides another option for lowering cholesterol and is particularly important for patients that cannot tolerate statins. That’s a real problem in clinical practice which limits our ability to effectively lower cholesterol in many patients,’’ Nicholls said.

“It has the potential to help between 100,000 and 500,000 people in Australia.”

Called Nexletol, the drug is being developed by US-based Esperion Therapeutics and will go to the Therapeutics Goods Administration for approval for use in Australia. Nicholls said he expected the drug to be available for Australian patients in the next two years.

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/Rasi Bhadramani