News Brief by Caroline Russell-Troutman
Recent changes to
US heart health guidelines may reduce future patient use and doctor
approval of a line of popular new cholesterol drugs. These
experimental drugs are called PCSK9 inhibitors and are said to to
drastically lower LDL cholesterol levels with few major side effects.
For this reason, they have been deemed “blockbuster” drugs and
initially promised to make huge sales. However, new heart health
recommendations place emphasis on statins, cholesterol-lowering
drugs different from PCSK9 inhibitors. Instead of focusing on reduced
LDL cholesterol levels, these guidelines ask doctors to prescribe
medications based on a patient’s risk of developing heart diseases
– a risk which is lessened when statins are prescribed. The
guidelines currently pose few threats to long-prescribed non-statin
medications such as Zetia and Vitorin, since many doctors trust these
treatments and will not immediately adapt to new recommendations.
PCSK9 inhibitors may be more affected by the new heart health
guidelines since these drugs are still in development, but sales
analysts remain skeptical and say that the true effects of the new
guidelines cannot be determined just yet.
Reference:
Pierson, R. (2013, November 13). U.S. heart guidelines threaten hot new cholesterol drugs. Reuters. Retrieved November 22, 2013, from http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/13/us-usa-cholestrol-drugs-idUSBRE9AC0TH20131113
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