New drug boosts 'good' cholesterol up to 128 pc!

Washington, Nov 16 (ANI): Administration of a new drug- evacetrapib - can dramatically increase HDL (good) cholesterol, while significantly lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol), a US researcher says.

At the highest tested dosage, the levels of HDL more than doubled.

Evacetrapib (500 mg) produced an HDL increase that ranged from 53.6 percent to 128.8 percent, while decreasing LDL by 13.6 percent to 35.9 percent. When combined with statin therapy, evacetrapib (100mg) increased HDL by 79.9 percent to 94 percent and further decreased LDL.

"In this study, evacetrapib was able to show striking increases in HDL while significantly lowering LDL," said lead investigator Stephen Nicholls, MD PhD, Cardiovascular Director of the Cleveland Clinic Coordinating Centre for Clinical Research (C5).

"The next step will be a large cardiovascular outcome trial to determine if this drug can reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality," he stated.

Evacetrapib belongs to a new class of drugs under development known as cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors.

The first drug in the class, torcetrapib, failed due to unexpected toxicity, but many researchers believe that newer compounds such as evacetrapib may avoid this toxicity.

In the current trial, evacetrapib showed none of the adverse effects noted with torcetrapib. Specifically, evacetrapib resulted in no increase in blood pressure or adrenal synthesis of aldosterone or cortisol.

Dr.Nicholls presented the study at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla.

The results of this Phase II clinical trial were simultaneously published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (ANI)