Mayo Clinic: A FDA advisory panel has recommended
approval of the first drug in a new class of cholesterol-lowering
medications, called PCSK9 inhibitors. PCSK9 is a protein that interferes
with the liver's ability to reduce levels of LDL, often called the bad
cholesterol.
A similar drug made by another company will be considered by the panel
today. "The thing that’s different about [these medications] is that
they actually enhance your own body’s ability to clear cholesterol,"
says Stephen Kopecky, M.D., with Mayo Clinic's division of cardiovascular diseases and the immediate past president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC).