The government is collaborating with pharmaceutical company Novartis to launch a clinical trial for new cholesterol treatment.
The collaboration aims to offer cutting-edge new cholesterol treatment to tens of thousands of patients at risk of heart disease in coming years and has entered in-principle into an agreement with Novartis to see the introduction of inclisiran on the NHS following approval has the potential to save up to 30,000 lives over the next 10 years.
The yet to be approved drug inclisiran, a treatment to lower cholesterol, will be studied in UK patients as part of a large-scale NHS clinical trial expected to start later this year.
Early results from clinical trials suggest that if inclisiran is given to 300,000 patients annually, it could help prevent 55,000 heart attacks and strokes, and has the potential of saving 30,000 lives in the next 10 years.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “As Health Secretary, I’m determined find ways to save as many lives as possible, and to do my best to stop terrible conditions like heart disease from taking people from their family and friends far too soon.”
“This partnership is fantastic news and is a huge stride forwards in helping to achieve this. This collaboration has the potential to save 30,000 lives over the next 10 years and is proof that the UK continues to be the world-leading destination for revolutionary healthcare.”
Inclisiran, a bi-annual injection, is expected to be filed for approval as a preventative add-on treatment to statins for patients who have already been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease later this year.
It will also be put through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) approval programme at the earliest opportunity possible and NHS England will agree a population-level commercial arrangement with the company to make it widely available to patients as soon as 2021.
