Amgen’s Repatha lowers need for cholesterol-lowering procedure
Amgen Inc said on Monday its injection Repatha significantly reduced the need for patients to undergo a procedure to reduce bad cholesterol, according to the findings of a late-stage study.
The drug, like Regeneron Inc and Sanofi SA’s Praluent, belongs to a class of medicines called PCSK9 inhibitors that were approved on their ability to dramatically lower “bad” LDL cholesterol.
Besides taking drugs, cholesterol patients often undergo a procedure called apheresis, which is as invasive as dialysis and involves using a machine that removes bad cholesterol over a period of between one and three hours, Amgen said.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)