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EBBINGHAUS Trial Finds No Cognitive Issues Associated with Evolocumab
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Excitement has been surrounding PCSK9 inhibitors due to high efficacy in lowering cholesterol. However, two reports in 2015 found that two of these drugs (evolocumab and alirocumab) were linked to cognitive issues. A phase 3 trial at ACC 2017 set out to find if that's actually the case.
Excitement has been surrounding PCSK9 inhibitors due to high efficacy in lowering cholesterol. However, two reports in 2015 found that two of these drugs (evolocumab and alirocumab) were linked to cognitive issues.
In the phase 3 EBBINGHAUS trial, researchers examined the cognitive effects of evolocumab (Repatha/Amgen). Lead author, Robert Giugliano, MD, cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, sat down with MD Magazine to go over the trial at the 66th Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology (ACC 2017) in Washington, District of Columbia.
The team tested for cognitive function using a series of tests, the primary one was the tablet-based test, CANTAB. “Those of you in the behavioral sciences or working with dementia patients will be familiar with it,” Giugliano said. “As a cardiologist, I must say, I knew nothing about it before this trial.”
The EBBINGHAUS trial was branch off of the FOURIER trial, also presented at ACC 2017 which found that adding evolocumab to statin therapy reduced the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with vascular disease by 15%.
