AMG 145 (Amgen) Cholesterol LDL

 New Drug Class Cuts LDL Cholesterol

By Chris Kaiser, Cardiology Editor, MedPage Today

Published: November 06, 2012

Reviewed by Dori F. Zaleznik, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston

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"We saw three positive trials, but they are phase II trials showing efficacy and a fair amount of information on safety," he said. "Now we need longer-term safety data and cardiovascular outcomes."

In all the trials, patients experienced a robust drop in LDL within the first 2 weeks, which then was sustained out to 12 weeks.

AMG 145 (Amgen) and RN136 (Pfizer) are what are called proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors. They work by blocking PCSK9 from binding onto LDL receptors, mostly on the liver, thereby improving LDL-C clearance and reducing LDL-C levels.

This area of research is apparently hot right now as many other companies are developing similar monoclonal antibodies including Novartis (in phase I), Roche (in phase II), Lilly (in phase I), and Sanofi (in phase III, a cardiovascular outcomes study)./.../