Potent cholesterol drug available in Singapore
The drug, Repatha®, represents a breakthrough treatment for those with persistent high cholesterol
The first drug of its kind to treat uncontrolled low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is now available in Singapore. Marketed under the name Repatha®, the drug derives from evolocumab, an antibody or protein produced by the immune system to fight disease. This new class of drugs, called proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors, provides a new treatment option for patients who experience side effects while on statin therapy - a mainstay treatment for high cholesterol - or remain unable to control their cholesterol levels.
“While available treatments for other diseases are advancing in leaps and bounds, there hasn’t been much movement to address high cholesterol since the development of statin therapy in the late 1980s,” said Dr Peter Yan Chee Hong, Consultant Cardiologist at Gleneagles Medical Centre in a news release.
Prescribed alone or in combination with other lipid-lowering therapies, Repatha® has been shown to significantly help patients treat high cholesterol by removing LDL-C, or “bad” cholesterol from the blood, which could prevent plaque buildup in arteries. Data from clinical trials revealed that use of Repatha® resulted in up to a 77 percent additional LDL-C reduction in patients also receiving statin therapy. “This is the first significant innovation in 30 years for cholesterol management, and we look forward to seeing how it will impact patient lives and help combat the rising burden of cardiovascular disease,” said Raphael Ho, General Manager of Amgen Singapore, one of the world’s leading independent biotechnology companies.
The new drug, developed by Amgen, represents an important breakthrough in heart health as elevated LDL-C remains a key risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and Singapore’s leading cause of death, accounting for one in every three deaths in 2015, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.
Cardiovascular diseases also pose a significant burden to patients in terms of steep direct and indirect costs. The average medical cost for treatment of an acute stroke is over S$22,000, which is the equivalent to almost two months of an average Singaporean family’s income.
This story was originally published in the Global Health and Travel issue of October 2017
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