WASHINGTON — A new class of experimental medicines can dramatically lower cholesterol, raising hopes for people who can’t tolerate or don’t get enough help from Lipitor and other statin drugs.
The first large studies of these drugs were presented Saturday at an American College of Cardiology conference in Washington. More will follow Sunday.
Several companies are developing these drugs, which are aimed at 70 million Americans and millions more worldwide who have high LDL, or “bad” cholesterol.
Nearly all current cholesterol medicines are decades old. Statins such as Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor curb cholesterol production. Zetia, which came out about a decade ago, helps block the absorption of cholesterol from the intestine.
The new drugs block PCSK9, a substance that interferes with the liver’s ability to remove cholesterol from the blood. They have drawbacks. The new drugs are proteins rather than chemicals, and those tend to be expensive to make.
