VIDEO: Alirocumab Reduced Use of Apheresis

In the ODYSSEY ESCAPE trial, patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia were given either the PCSK9-inhibitor alirocumab or placebo for 18 weeks to determine if they could reduce their use of the lipoprotein apheresis.

While apheresis is effective at lowering LDL-C in these patients, it is invasive and requires 2 to 3 hours to administer every week or every 2 weeks.

Study investigator Patrick M. Moriarty of the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City discusses the trial findings with European Heart Journal editor-in-chief, Thomas Lüscher and atherosclerosis expert, Gerald Watts of the University of Western Australia at the 2016 European Society of Cardiology congress.

Reference

Moriarty PM, Parhofer KG, Babirak SP, et al. Alirocumab in patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia undergoing lipoprotein apheresis: the ODYSSEY ESCAPE trial. Eur Heart J. 2016. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehw388.