Isis trial shows drug further cuts bad cholesterol
LOS ANGELES, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Thursday a mid-stage trial showed an experimental drug further reduced "bad" LDL cholesterol in people already getting aggressive treatment for dangerously high levels of the artery-clogging substance.
The small, Phase 2 trial of ISIS 301012 involved people with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a hereditary condition linked to very high LDL cholesterol from birth and heart attacks at an early age.
Trial participants were also taking the highest-tolerated doses of other lipid-lowering drugs.
The eight-person group receiving the maximum, 300-milligram weekly dose of ISIS 301012 for 13 weeks had the best results -- a 46 percent decrease in LDL cholesterol on top of reductions from other treatments, the company said in a presentation at the Drugs Affecting Lipid Metabolism XVI International Symposium in New York.
Results from that same group showed a 36 percent reduction of LDL cholesterol after six weeks.
The study also examined the effects of six weeks of treatment with lower doses of the drug.
Isis (ISIS.O) Chief Executive Stanley Crooke told Reuters the drug also lowered triglycerides and Lp(a) lipoprotein, other important markers of cardiovascular risk.
"The performance of ISIS 301012 continues to be extremely encouraging, especially for those of us who care for the many heterozygous FH patients who aren't able to achieve target lipid levels despite being treated with all that we currently have to offer them," said Dr. Evan Stein, director of the Metabolic and Atherosclerosis Research Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a principal investigator on the study.
