Amgen Inc. (AMGN) Monday said its experimental drug AMG 145 in combination with statin therapy reduced bad cholesterol levels in patients.
AMG 145 is an investigational antibody directed against PCSK9, a protein that reduces the liver's ability to remove low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) or bad cholesterol from the blood.
Amgen in a statement said AMG 145 in combination with statin therapy, with or without ezetimibe, resulted in a reduction in LDL-C by up to 56 percent in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) in the Phase 2 Rutherford study.
HeFH, one of the most common genetic disorder, elevates the cholesterol and LDL-C levels and leads to cardiovascular diseases and death.
The company said treatment with AMG 145 every four weeks resulted in a significant LDL-C decrease versus placebo in HeFH patients on lipid-lowering therapy.
At week 12, LDL-C reduction was 43 percent and 55 percent with AMG 145 350 mg and 420 mg, respectively, compared to a 1 percent increase with placebo arm.
"Despite existing therapies and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia are prematurely at risk for serious cardiovascular disease due to the difficulty in reducing their LDL-C levels," said Frederick Raal, Carbohydrate & Lipid Metabolism Research Unit, Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism, Department of Medicine, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
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