The anti-cholesterol drug Praluent (alirocumab), made by France’s Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, is linked to a 15 percent lower risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke, a study said Saturday.
Alirocumab was also associated with a 15 percent reduction in death from any cause, marking the first evidence that this relatively new class of drugs, called PCSK9 inhibitors, may extend lives.
The benefit was even greater among those with stubbornly high “bad,” or LDL cholesterol, above 100 mg/dL. That group saw a 29 percent reduction in death from any cause after taking the drug for two years.
Praluent is part of a relatively new class of drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors which can dramatically lower cholesterol, and may work even better than statins, the traditional first line of treatment.
Last year, researchers reported similar results for a different PCSK9 inhibitor…
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