Twice yearly cholesterol-lowering jab approved for patients

A new type of cholesterol-lowering drug has been approved for use on the NHS and will be made available to hundreds of thousands of patients in England.

The drug, inclisiran, will be given to people with high cholesterol levels who have had a previous heart attack or stroke to prevent another one from happening.

It has been estimated that inclisiran could prevent 55,000 heart attacks and strokes, with the potential to save 30,000 lives within the next 10 years in England.

Inclisiran is one of the first of a completely new class of medicines that uses RNA interference (known as gene silencing drugs) to block the production of specific molecules. It works by boosting the liver’s ability to remove harmful cholesterol from the blood.

Good news for heart patients

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, our Medical Director, said:

“The approval of inclisiran is good news for heart patients. The twice-yearly injection to lower LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol in patients with existing heart disease, whose cholesterol is not adequately controlled with statins or other drugs, will help to prevent people from having further heart attacks or strokes, ultimately maximising the numbers of lives saved.

“Inclisiran is particularly attractive because it only needs to be given twice a year by a simple injection under the skin. More research is needed to confirm the full extent of its benefits, but I anticipate that in the future it will also be approved to lower cholesterol for a much wider group of people to prevent them from having a heart attack or stroke in the first place.”

Nurses will be able to administer inclisiran as an injection in GP surgeries across England, meaning patients can avoid regular visits to hospital. After an initial dose, the drug will be given again after three months and then twice a year.

The treatment is being rolled out across the NHS following clinical trials which showed that inclisiran lowers the level of a type of fatty substance called LDL cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in the blood which is produced naturally in the liver. There are different types of cholesterol – some are necessary for the body to function as it should and some are detrimental to our health. Having high levels of LDL or ‘bad’ 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 daily statin 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 these patients may benefit from this new way of lowering cholesterol.

Find out more about risk factors