The First PCSK9 Phase III

Some long-awaited clinical data has appeared in the cardiovascular area: Sanofi and Regeneron have the first Phase III numbers for their PCSK9-blocking antibody alirocumab. (Here's some background on this area from John LaMattina). This was a monotherapy trial, run head-to-head against Merck/Schering-Plough's Zetia (ezetimibe). Patients in the alirocumab arm started at a low dose, injected every two weeks, and had to the option to increase it if their LDL had not hit the target levels. Three quarters of them didn't have to. Their LDL levels went down 47% on average, compared to 15.6% in the daily Zetia group, so I think we can call that one a solid success. There are other Phase III trials ongoing in different patient populations and with different regimens (for example, taking alirocumab along with a statin), but these results bode well. No significant toxicity has been observed, which, needless to say, also bodes well. That's the thing to watch. This is a new mechanism of action, and if there's one thing that the history of drug discovery tells us, it's that we don't know as much as we need to about mechanisms of action (both good and bad). It's good news that PCSK9-blocking therapies have been as clean as they have so far, but everyone in the field (Amgen is right behind Sanofi and Regeneron, and others are behind them) will be scrutinizing the data closely as more and more patient reports come in. These drugs could be used very widely indeed, and for many years at a tim...
Source: In the Pipeline - Category: Chemists Tags: Cardiovascular Disease Source Type: blogs