Hypercholesterolemia refers to the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. Additional lipid-lowering options are prescribed to patients if sufficient decreases in lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels using statins aren’t achieved. This study aims to evaluate the association of bempedoic acid treatment with the reduction of LDL-C levels in patients with hypercholesterolemia.
This pooled analysis of randomized trials included a total of four double-blind placebo-controlled randomized trials included a total of 3,623 patients with hypercholesterolemia who were at high cardiovascular risk and were receiving lipid-lowering therapy. The patients were randomly assigned in a 2:1 ratio to receive bempedoic acid (n=2,425) or placebo (n=1,198). The primary outcome of the study was a percentage change from baseline in LDL-C levels.
At week 12, the percentage change from baseline in LDL-C levels was –16.0% with bempedoic acid and 1.8% with placebo. The percentage change in LDL-C levels was sustained during the long term in all the pools. However, treatment-related adverse events were more common in the bempedoic acid groups than in the placebo groups.
The research concluded that bempedoic acid administration to tolerated statins was associated with reduced LDL-C levels when compared with placebo.
Ref: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamacardiology/fullarticle/2767760?resultClick=1
