Up to one in five people in the US have elevated levels of a lipoprotein in the blood that may raise their risk of heart attack and stroke by 25% to 50%. For now, there's not much that can be done for those with high levels of Lipoprotein(a) or Lp(a). But as the New York Times reports, that could soon change. At the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology on Sunday, a team from Eli Lilly explained that a single 400mg injection of the experimental drug, lepodisiran, lowered Lp(a) levels by 94% for six months with no major side effects. "What we have is a drug that can lower lipoprotein(a) with very infrequent administration," Cleveland Clinic cardiologist Dr. Steven Nissen, lead author of the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, tells Reuters.
A clinical trial is now underway to determine for sure if reducing Lp(a) levels also reduces a person's risk of heart attack and stroke, as is the hope. Eli Lilly's trial won't be complete for another four years. But there are other trials of Lp(a)-targeting drugs underway, including one from Novartis, which expects results next year. Lp(a)-lowering "is a huge new frontier in cardiovascular medicine," preventive cardiologist Dr. Daniel Rader, a member of the scientific advisory board for Novartis, tells the Times. High levels of Lp(a), controlled by genes, are often found in heart attack or stroke patients with no major risk factors, who are relatively young, and have family histories of unexplained heart disease—though only about 3% of heart disease patients in the US have been tested.
Normal Lp(a) levels are below 75 nanomoles per liter of blood. But the Times speaks to the doctor of a 71-year-old retired firefighter in California who has more than 400 nmol/L. "It seemed as if almost everyone in [his] family died from heart disease," the outlet notes. The patient himself was struggling with the disease before joining a trial of one Lp(a)-lowering drug. His symptoms disappeared entirely, only to return once the trial ended. "It's anecdotal," his doctor tells the Times, "but it speaks to the likelihood that these drugs prevent heart attacks." (More experimental drugs stories.)
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