New drug which 'halves cholesterol' with fewer side effects goes on sale in the UK tomorrow

A breakthrough drug that can halve cholesterol levels without the side effects of statins goes on sale tomorrow.
Heralded as a ‘sea change’ in heart treatments, Repatha is the first new cholesterol-busting medication since the 1980s.
The drug – the first alternative treatment for people who suffer unpleasant side effects from statins – reduced levels of ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol by 55 per cent in clinical trials.

It can also be taken alongside statins, and patients who took both for 12 weeks were shown to have cholesterol levels 75 per cent lower than those given statins alone.

Repatha has been approved as a safe and effective treatment by the European Medicines Agency, so when stocks of the drug arrive in Britain tomorrow it can be prescribed by private doctors immediately.

But the drug will not be made available to NHS patients for at least eight months. Heath service rationing body Nice is currently reviewing whether Repatha offers sufficient value for money, with a report due next April.

The drug, which is also known as evolocumab, has a list price of £170 per dose, taken fortnightly via a pre-filled pen injection. Over the course of a year this is more than £4,000 per patient, although the NHS will be offered a discount on the price.

Info from here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3216517/An-alternative-statins-New-drug-halves-cholesterol-fewer-effects-goes-sale-UK-tomorrow.html

Pay four grand a year for what? As far as I know lowering LDL has never been proved to prolong life, in fact in older people the lower the LDL the earlier the death. If this drug takes off in the UK, at anywhere near the price discussed, I will eat my hat.

I presume this is the PCSK9 drug, which Malcolm Kendrick was talking about on his blog recently, http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2015/07/28/a-tale-of-mice-and-men/
DrK predicts another great wave of diabetes, resulting from the use of PCSK9.
Sally

Sally wrote:I presume this is the PCSK9 drug, which Malcolm Kendrick was talking about on his blog recently, http://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2015/07/28/a-tale-of-mice-and-men/
DrK predicts another great wave of diabetes, resulting from the use of PCSK9.
Sally

So that's a great result for the drugs companies then.

Malcolm has gone after big pharma and the statin con for years. Big phama has said statins had hardly any side effects for years, now they say avoid the side effects with our new wonder drug. A drug that will achieve zilch in life expectancy. I expect the side effect list will be long and for many people.

There's a wealth of research which delinks LDL with cardiovascular risk, UNLESS the LDL is broken - Ron Krauss's famous small dense LDL - when it fails to work properly.

The factors which break the LDL are very likely the factors which also damage the arteries, among them excess glycation and oxidation byproducts and chronic inflammation.

Reducing carbs reduces trigs. Eating more saturated fat in the absence of said carbs increases HDL. Avoiding excess Omega 6 oils and eating more Omega 3s also decreases inflammation.

Doing this and also enjoying all the other benefits of Real Food would cost a LOT less than four grand a year.

But you know this anyway . . .