BHF comment
NHS and Novartis to collaborate to tackle heart disease
The Government has said that up to 30,000 lives could be saved over the next decade thanks to a proposed collaboration between the NHS and pharmaceutical company Novartis to study cholesterol-lowering drug.
The yet to be approved drug inclisiran, a treatment to lower cholesterol, will be studied in UK patients as part of a large-scale NHS clinical trial expected to start later this year.
Early results of inclisiran are promising
Previous research found that injecting inclisiran reduced cholesterol levels by around 50% in patients also taking a maximum dose of a statin. Importantly, there was also an associated reduction in heart attack and stroke in people taking the drug.
Early results from clinical trials suggest that if inclisiran is given to 300,000 patients annually, it could help prevent 55,000 heart attacks and strokes, and has the potential of saving 30,000 lives in the next 10 years.
Good news for patients
Our medical director, Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, said:
"This is a good news for patients and UK science as a whole. When it comes to clinical research the UK is a world-leader, with the NHS providing a fantastic environment in which to develop the evidence to support new treatments.
"However, once we have this evidence it’s of the utmost importance that there is minimum delay in getting these therapies to patients.
"With this new type of partnership, if inclisiran lives up to the promise it has shown so far, the NHS will be able to rapidly adopt the drug, a move which would ultimately maximise the number of lives saved."
A completely new type of medicine
Inclisiran is one of the first of a completely new class of medicines (small interfering RNAs, known as gene silencing drugs) that can block production of specific molecules for many months. Instead of being taken in pill form they are given to patients as a single injection under the skin.
Longer-term trials are now needed to confirm sustained clinical benefit and to confirm safety, but these results are very encouraging – and may point the way to a future where medicines like Inclisiran replace statins.
Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in your blood. It's produced naturally in the liver. Everyone has cholesterol. And we need it to stay healthy because every cell in our body uses it.
However, having high levels of ‘bad’ (non-HDL) cholesterol can increase your risk of heart and circulatory diseases such as heart attack, stroke and vascular dementia.
Some people can effectively lower their cholesterol levels by making lifestyle changes, such as improving their diet and exercise. When this is unsuccessful, reducing cholesterol by taking a statin daily is a highly effective way to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
However, some people are unable to effectively lower their cholesterol with statins, and it’s these patients who would benefit from this new way of lowering cholesterol.
Longer-term trials are now needed to confirm sustained clinical benefit and to confirm safety, but these results are very encouraging – and may point the way to a future where medicines like Inclisiran replace statins.
Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in your blood. It's produced naturally in the liver. Everyone has cholesterol. And we need it to stay healthy because every cell in our body uses it.
However, having high levels of ‘bad’ (non-HDL) cholesterol can increase your risk of heart and circulatory diseases such as heart attack, stroke and vascular dementia.
Some people can effectively lower their cholesterol levels by making lifestyle changes, such as improving their diet and exercise. When this is unsuccessful, reducing cholesterol by taking a statin daily is a highly effective way to reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
However, some people are unable to effectively lower their cholesterol with statins, and it’s these patients who would benefit from this new way of lowering cholesterol.