Novel HDL-Targeted Therapies -- The Search Continues
Novel HDL-Targeted Therapies -- The Search Continues
The early termination of the Investigation of Lipid Level management to Understand its impact IN ATherosclerotic Events (ILLUMINATE) trial because of more deaths and adverse events in the test arm, followed by withdrawal of its test agent, torcetrapib, from the market by Pfizer (New York, NY), left 2 important remaining questions:
The first question remains (see accompanying review of torcetrapib results from ACC.07), but for the second question, 2 promising approaches are PPAR-alpha agonists and ApoA-I mimetics. Both approaches are under active investigation, and the first results with some examples of these agents were presented at this year's American College of Cardiology (ACC) 56th Annual Scientific Session.
The early termination of the Investigation of Lipid Level management to Understand its impact IN ATherosclerotic Events (ILLUMINATE) trial because of more deaths and adverse events in the test arm, followed by withdrawal of its test agent, torcetrapib, from the market by Pfizer (New York, NY), left 2 important remaining questions:
Was cholesteryl esterase transfer protein (CETP) inhibition, the mechanism of action of torcetrapib, a viable approach to raising high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol?
Was therapeutically raising HDL levels a viable approach at all, and if so, by what means?
The first question remains (see accompanying review of torcetrapib results from ACC.07), but for the second question, 2 promising approaches are PPAR-alpha agonists and ApoA-I mimetics. Both approaches are under active investigation, and the first results with some examples of these agents were presented at this year's American College of Cardiology (ACC) 56th Annual Scientific Session.
Source...