Familial Hypercholesterolemia

ATLANTA — Although progress has been made in diagnosing and treating patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, more work is needed in these areas, according to a presentation at the FH Foundation’s FH Global Summit.

Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia who initiated statin therapy during childhood had a slower progression of carotid intima-media thickness and a reduced risk for CVD in adulthood, according to a study with 20-year follow-up data published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Patients with familial hypercholesterolemia who were treated in U.S. specialty clinics had a harder time achieving LDL less than 100 mg/dL than those who had atherosclerotic CVD at the start of lipid-lowering therapy.

Regeneron announced top-line results of a phase 3 study showing that evinacumab, its investigational angiopoietin-like 3 antibody, reduced LDL by 49% in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia who were taking other medications.