News
26 May, 2025
Drug trial targets stubborn cholesterol
A MONASH-led international study has found a cholesterol-lowering drug may offer a more effective and convenient way to protect people at high risk of heart attack and stroke.
The clinical trial ‘BROADWAY’ tested a once-daily oral medication called Obicetrapib, and found it significantly lowered both LDL cholesterol and lipoprotein(a), two key contributors to cardiovascular disease.
The BROADWAY phase 3 trial results were presented by Study lead Professor Stephen Nicholls, Director of Monash University’s Victorian Heart Institute and Monash Health’s Victorian Heart Hospital, as a late-breaking clinical study at the European Atherosclerosis Society Congress in Glasgow and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Professor Nicholls said the findings marked an important step forward for patients who have struggled to reach their cholesterol targets with current therapies.
More than 2,500 participants with established heart disease or genetic high cholesterol were given either Obicetrapib or a placebo, in addition to their regular cholesterol medications.
After 12 weeks, those on Obicetrapib had dropped their LDL cholesterol by 32.6 per cent on average – many achieved guideline-recommended targets for the first time.
Obicetrapib was also well tolerated, with a safety profile similar to earlier trials.
