New drug to lower cholesterol available on NHS

A new drug to lower cholesterol will be made available to hundreds of thousands of NHS patients, thanks to a world-leading deal announced by Amanda Pritchard.

The new treatment, Inclisiran, is delivered as an injection twice a year and can be used alongside statins, adding to the options available to patients to help control their cholesterol levels. Nurses will be able to administer Inclisiran as an injection in GP surgeries across England, meaning patients can avoid regular visits to hospital. After an initial dose, the drug will be given again after three months and then twice a year.

This first NHS ‘population health agreement’, agreed between the NHS and Novartis, will enable 300,000 patients with high cholesterol and a history of cardiovascular disease to benefit from the lifesaving drug over the next three years, a figure that could rise to nearly half a million people beyond that initial period.

It has been estimated that Inclisiran could prevent 55,000 heart attacks and strokes, saving 30,000 lives within the next decade.

More than two in five people in England have high cholesterol which puts them at significant risk of developing heart disease, and around 6.5 million adults in England are currently taking lipid-lowering drugs such as statins.

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of the NHS, said: “The NHS is committed to using cutting-edge treatments to save and improve patients’ lives. Heart disease is still one of the major killer conditions so it is fantastic that we now have such an effective and convenient treatment for those living with dangerously high cholesterol levels. This world-leading deal for the rollout of Inclisiran will save lives and enable hundreds of thousands of people to benefit from this revolutionary treatment, while also being fair to taxpayers.”