Regeneron posts positive results from testing Evinacumab in patients with certain type of high cholesterol

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday said it got positive pivotal Phase 3 results for evinacumab, an investigational angiopoietin-like 3 (ANGPTL3) antibody, in patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH).

The trial met its primary endpoint, showing that adding evinacumab to other lipid-lowering therapies decreased LDL cholesterol by 49% on average, compared to lipid-lowering therapies alone, Regeneron said.

Furthermore, on average, patients entered the trial with LDL cholesterol levels of 255 mg/dL, despite treatment with other lipid-lowering therapies, including maximally-tolerated statins, PCSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9) inhibitors, ezetimibe, LDL apheresis and lomitapide.

George D. Yancopoulos, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron, said: “Currently HoFH patients face limited choices in reducing their LDL cholesterol, including therapies that are time-consuming like LDL apheresis, or that may have side effect concerns. Despite recent therapeutic advances, there is still a significant unmet need to lower the LDL cholesterol of many patients with HoFH. On average, evinacumab reduced patients’ LDL cholesterol in half and was generally well-tolerated in the trial. These results raise the potential that evinacumab may have value for other patients with severe, refractory hypercholesterolemia, where we have a trial ongoing.”