The jab that could replace statins: Powerful injection twice a year may become alternative anti-cholesterol medication for millions of patients
- Drug called inclisiran would be injected by a nurse once every six months
- Revolutionary ‘gene-silencing’ drug has potential to transform patients’ lives
- Experts say convenience of the drug could improve cholesterol management
- Trial by Imperial College London shows ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol reduced by 50%
By Ben Spencer Medical Correspondent In Paris For The Daily Mail
Published: 17:07 EDT, 2 September 2019 | Updated: 02:58 EDT, 3 September 2019
A powerful cholesterol jab given twice a year could become an alternative to statins for millions, a major trial suggests.
Doctors say inclisiran – a revolutionary ‘gene-silencing’ drug – has phenomenal potential to transform patients’ lives.
A global trial, led by Imperial College London, has shown the injection safely reduces ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol by 50 per cent – a similar impact to high-dose statins.
But instead of having to take a pill every day – which puts many off statins – patients just have to visit a nurse for a jab once every six months.
Global trial led by Imperial College London has shown the ‘gene-silencing’ drug inclisiran to reduce ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol by 50 per cent. Patients would have to visit a nurse for a jab once every six months
Study leader Professor Kausik Ray, presenting his results yesterday at the European Society of Cardiology congress in Paris, said: ‘For people faced with the concept of taking 365 pills a year for the next few decades, this in comparison is much more tolerable.’
Experts said the convenience of the drug could significantly improve the way individuals manage their cholesterol, potentially saving countless lives.
The small company which makes it said it is planning to apply for a medicine licence in the US next year and the UK the year after.
Experts said the convenience of the drug could significantly improve the way individuals manage their cholesterol, potentially saving countless lives
Initially most patients will have the jab alongside their statins, which Professor Ray believes could benefit up to 700,000 in the UK.
But he believes the jab could eventually be used as an alternative for those who cannot tolerate the side effects of statins, or as a convenient alternative for those who simply do not like taking pills.
In time, Professor Ray believes, the jab could even be offered just once a year, and could be given to millions at low risk.
‘It is a game-changer for people to manage their cholesterol,’ he said. ‘The convenience is key. People have lives, they have jobs. We have to move ourselves to the patient, to make that difference.’ He added: ‘I think statins will always be the first-line treatment because they are so cheap. But in the future, could it replace statins for some patients? That could be the case.’ Roughly six million people in Britain are prescribed statins at a cost of about £20 a year. They are thought to prevent about 80,000 heart attacks and strokes a year.
But research published by Nottingham University suggested 49 per cent of those prescribed the pills do not see their cholesterol drop to a healthy level – either because they are on the wrong dose or because they simply stop taking them.
How to slash risk of heart attack by 80%
A modest drop in cholesterol and blood pressure slashes the chance of heart attack or stroke by 80 per cent.
It also cuts by 67 per cent the risk of dying in such an attack, according to the study of the DNA of 440,000 Britons.
‘Heart and circulatory diseases steal the lives of 168,000 people each year in the UK,’ said Brian Ference, the Cambridge University professor who led the research.
‘Even small reductions in both “bad” cholesterol and blood pressure for sustained periods of time can pay very big health dividends.’
The study used genetic records to examine links between blood pressure, cholesterol and heart disease.
Professor Naveed Sattar, consultant in metabolic medicine at Glasgow University, said that the ‘fire and forget’ approach of a six-monthly jab would be hugely popular.
‘Taking a daily tablet, for many people, is a pain,’ he said. ‘Anything we can do to reduce this burden is positive. We need to learn more about long-term safety – but otherwise this is very positive.’
Inclisiran is among the first in a wave of new ‘gene silencing’ drugs which block RNA – the ‘messenger’ of the genetic system, which carries instructions from the body’s genes.
In this case the drug blocks the message that instructs the body to produce a protein called PCSK9 which interferes with the liver’s ability to remove cholesterol from the blood.
‘You silence the gene and switch off the tap,’ Professor Ray said.
Dr Derek Connolly, consultant interventional cardiologist at Birmingham City Hospital, also speaking at the Paris conference where 30,000 heart experts are meeting this week, said: ‘The potential of this is phenomenal. If you can give someone an injection that lowers cholesterol and lasts six months, that is a no-brainer.’
