In a new post-hoc analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial, MACE risk was reduced throughout the follow-up period of ~3 years in post-ACS patients who had very low LDL-c levels for 6 months during alirocumab plus statin therapy, followed by statin monotherapy, compared with matched statin-treated patients on placebo only.

The FDA has approved the use of the ANGPTL3 inhibitor evinacumab as an adjunct to other lipid-lowering therapies for the treatment of children aged 5 to 11 with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

ACC.23 In the PCDS-Statin trial -a cluster RCT- was investigated whether personalized reminders to primary care clinicians improved the use of high-intensity statins in patients with ASCVD.

In large RCTs, PCSK9 inhibitors have shown to have great value in patients with ACS, but how do you implement these agents in clinical practice?

In this post hoc analysis of the ODYSSEY OUTCOMES trial, the authors demonstrated that the beneficial effects of alirocumab on Lp(a)-associated risk of CV events in patients with ACS are modified by hsCRP.

ACC.23 "The field of LDL-c reduction is very hot", says Deepak Bhatt. He talks about novel ways to lower LDL-c through PCSK9 inhibition, including a new oral agent.

In a secondary biomarker analysis of the CLEAR Harmony trial, bempedoic acid lowered levels of LDL-c and hs-CRP, but not fibrinogen or IL-6, compared with placebo in patients with ASCVD and/or heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) who had residual inflammatory risk.

ACC.23 Prof. Ballantyne briefly discusses the findings of a phase 2b trial with the oral macrocyclic peptide MK-0616, an inhibitor of PCSK9, in patients with hypercholesterolemia.

ACC.23 Injectable treatments may have poor adoption due to access barriers and the need for repeat injections. An oral PCSK9 inhibitor, MK-0616, was developed and tested in a phase 2b trial.

ACC.23 In a collaborative analysis of the PROMINENT, REDUCE-IT, and STRENGTH trials, hs-CRP was a better predictor of future MACE, CV death, and all-cause mortality than LDL-c in statin-treated patients with, or at high risk of, atherosclerotic disease.

ACC.23 In a multisite-RCT study was examined whether an intervention including individualized reminders sent to primary care clinicians improved use of high-intensity statin in patients with ASCVD.

ACC.23 “We as cardiologists have to recognize that time has come to aggressively lower LDL-c, which we are already doing, but we need to add aggressive reduction of inflammation to that”, says Prof. Ridker.