The Commercial Opportunity
Atherosclerosis-based CVD is characterized by the build up of lipid rich plaques in the arterial walls. The plaques are highly vulnerable to rupture and blood clot formation resulting in serious adverse cardiac events such as angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. Regression and stabilization of plaques has been the holy grail of cardiovascular research for decades.
The oral dyslipidemia products market is well established. In 2009, the sales of LDL-lowering products were $35.3 billion, and the sales of HDL-elevating products were $1.0 billion. For patients who undergo coronary revascularization, the average first year costs are $30,402 per patient.
"HDL mimetics represents an entirely new market opportunity"
However, currently marketed therapies, such as statins, only reduce cardiac risk by 25-35%. Sustained release niacin (Niaspan®) dominates the current HDL market, and is well-documented to reduce cardiovascular risk further than statins alone.
However, the side effects of current niacin therapies include very significant facial flushing along with burning and itching.
While various interventional cardiology techniques can target the culprit plaques, they fall short of effectively treating additional vulnerable plaques which drive subsequent cardiovascular events, frequently occurring during the same year with fatal outcomes.
As such, there is strong pharmacoeconomic support for a therapy capable of acutely reducing the risk of cardiovascular events. Treatment with HDL mimetic represents an entirely new market opportunity and could significantly improve outcomes among these patients.