💊 A once-daily pill that slashes “bad” cholesterol by ~58%

High LDL (“bad”) cholesterol is a slow-motion killer: it silently damages arteries and drives heart attacks and strokes. For people with familial hypercholesterolemia (roughly 1 in 250 adults), LDL is dangerously high from birth.

A new clinical trial just tested an experimental pill called enlicitide decanoate, an oral PCSK9 inhibitor:
• 293 adults with inherited high cholesterol
• all already on statins, but still with elevated LDL
• randomized to enlicitide once a day vs placebo for 24 weeks

📉 Result:
Those on the pill saw LDL drop by 58.2% on average, while the placebo group actually had a slight increase in LDL. The effect stayed strong over a full year, and side effects were similar to placebo.

PCSK9 inhibitors already exist as injections; this one is a tablet that basically lets the liver vacuum more LDL out of the blood. If longer-term studies confirm it reduces heart attacks and strokes, millions of high-risk patients could swap some injections for a daily pill.

Question:
If you had very high LDL, would you take a daily PCSK9 pill on top of statins?

#medicine #cholesterol #cardiology #pharma