'Revolutionary': Scientists have developed two promising medications for 'bad' cholesterol

Philadelphia, United States

Amid the rising clamour over weight-loss drugs and their side effects, new experimental drugs that supposedly reduce bad cholesterol levels have shown promising effects.

Presented at Sunday's (Nov 12) annual meeting of the American Heart Association, two groundbreaking researches have reportedly showcased drugs that are both safe and effective.

Reducing cholesterol the medical way

These medications, as per NBC News, are not meant as a weight loss drug, rather, these are meant for people with certain genetic predisposition.

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People that have a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol can make use of these drugs in combination with diet and exercise to manage their risk for heart attack and stroke.

How do these medications work?

One of the treatments makes use of gene-editing, while the other uses mRNA.

The first one, a medication from Verve Therapeutics, using an approach called base editing, targets the PCSK9 gene.

This gene is behind the production of LDL, often known as "bad" cholesterol. 

As per Verve's co-founder and CEO Dr Sekar Kathiresan, the medication works like a permanent eraser, removing the gene's ability to raise cholesterol.

The second medication, as per NBC news report, is a novel therapy that could be the first treatment for lipoprotein(a) aka Lp(a) — a dangerous type of cholesterol.

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People with high levels of this cholesterol are extremely vulnerable to having fats build up in their arteries. This genetic condition is "essentially untreatable," says Dr Steven Nissen, the study's author. 

"The only way to target such a genetic risk factor is to find a way to interfere with the product of the gene," adds Nissen, chief academic officer of the Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic.

Nissen's team has developed a drug called lepodisiran, that like COVID-19 vaccines, targets mRNA, to prompt our body into developing antibodies.

When will these drugs be available for public use?

It may be some time before these are available for public use. Neither treatment has been tested in humans, and they require additional research and testing before they are even considered for approval by the Food and Drug Administration.

Despite that, experts at the meeting were impressed by the research findings. As Dr Hugh Cassiere, director of critical care services at South Shore University Hospital, Northwell Cardiovascular Institute in New York puts it, "There is no way to categorise this other than revolutionary". Cassiere was not a part of either research.

(With inputs from agencies)