New research underway on monthly shot to treat high cholesterol

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - A new therapy could help a person lower his or her risk of having a heart attack. New research is explaining how.

This new research showed that a single shot taken once a month can drop cholesterol significantly. It’s a PCSK9 inhibitor.

“What it is, is a drug to lower LDL-C cholesterol, which in layman’s terms is the bad cholesterol,” said Katie Vale-Freeburg, a sub-investigator at Velocity Clinical Research.

Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in the blood. As it deposits in a person’s blood vessels, it reduces blood flow and raises the risk of a heart attack. Vale-Freeburg said these new PCSK9 shots can actually reduce that risk by giving the body a bit of a boost.

“So, the way that this drug works is that your liver makes a protein called PCSK9, and what that protein does is it makes it hard for your liver to get that cholesterol out of your body. What this drug does is it blocks that protein, and it makes it easier for your body to get rid of the cholesterol,” Vale-Freeburg said.

A study that was just presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology found that a new kind of PCSK9 inhibitor reduced bad (LDL) cholesterol in nine out of 10 patients by 50%. The placebo group dropped just 16%.

“15 years ago, we were doing research on the statins. Which at the time, we thought was gonna be the best thing that ever happened to cholesterol research, and how could we ever get better than that. Here we are 15 years later doing PCSK9 research,” said Kurt Percy, Executive Director of Regional Operations at Velocity Clinical Research.

The research on these new monthly shots showed that PCSK9s may help those who don't respond well to therapies, such as statins, currently on the market. Vale-Freeburg said the goal now is to get bad cholesterol levels to 70 mg/dL or lower.

“This drug really aids with that goal,” said Vale-Freeburg.