Article Image

IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology

Oral pill cuts bad cholesterol by 60% in phase 2 clinical trial

• arclein

The new trial investigated the efficacy of MK-0616 as an oral PCSK9 inhibitor. Over 380 participants enrolled, who all had elevated levels of LDL cholesterol and a history of heart disease or risk factors for it. They were randomly assigned to one of five groups, receiving either a placebo or MK-0616 at four different doses ?" 6 mg, 12 mg, 18 mg or 30 mg. Participants took the medication daily for eight weeks then stopped, while researchers measured their LDL cholesterol levels before and after the trial period, then continued monitoring for adverse effects for a further eight weeks. Sure enough, participants taking any dosage of the drug saw significant drops in their LDL cholesterol levels compared to placebo. Those receiving doses of 30 mg saw drops of over 60%, 18 mg dropped 59%, 12 mg dropped 55% and 6 mg dropped 41%. Other biomarkers of bad cholesterol, including non-HDL cholesterol and a protein called ApoB, were also reduced. Importantly, the team saw no evidence of adverse


midfest.info