Inclisiran, a cholesterol-lowering drug could reportedly be offered to people on the NHS. The ‘game-changing’ drug is hoped to avert thousands of strokes and heart attacks in the coming years.
Thousands of people with mixed dyslipidemia (a condition wherein the person has higher-than-normal levels of fats in their blood) or high cholesterol who have had a stroke or heart attack would receive the drug, claim reliable sources.
As per reports, the initial dose of the medicine would be administered through an injection in GP surgeries in England before another dose is administered three months later, followed by twice a year afterwards.
To the uninitiated, Inclisiran is the first of a novel type of cholesterol-reducing treatment RNA interference that aids the liver in removing harmful cholesterol from blood.
It is worth noting that the National Institute for Health Care and Excellence (NICE) has said that there is no long-term evidence supporting the drug’s effect on cardiovascular outcomes. However, people who have experienced cardiovascular trauma previously, along with those who have not experienced a cardiovascular incident, evidently consider Inclisiran cost-efficient.
NHS England has reportedly estimated that about 300,000 people would receive the drug over the following three years, which would help prevent 55,000 strokes and heart attacks and potentially save around 30,000 lives over the coming decade.
The health service has inked a ‘population health agreement’ with manufacturers, which could ultimately allow half a million people to avail the treatment, according to reports.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS chief executive, stated that the world-leading deal for Inclisiran rollout would save lives and enable hundreds of thousands of people to benefit from the revolutionary treatment as well as be fair for taxpayers.
Pritchard further added that heart disease is one of the major fatal illnesses so having an effective and convenient treatment is excellent for people living with alarmingly high cholesterol levels.
Notably, more than two in five people have high cholesterol in England, while heart conditions cause a quarter of deaths every year in England.
Source credit: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/cholesterol-jab-drug-nhs-inclisiran-b1912218.html