Amarin Corp Plc (AMRN)

[rafunrafun]

Update on the new study / article.

Amarin and I received a retraction/revision letter a new manuscript. The conclusion is:

Our meta-analysis suggests that EPA can be very helpful in the prevention and improvement of cardiovascular outcomes in patients with, or at higher risk, of cardiovascular disease. EPA use in addition to standard therapy can improve primary composite outcome, cardiovascular mortality, fatal/nonfatal MI and revascularization.

I was asked to comment and this is what I sent back:

I would change the terminology from EPA to Icosapent Ethyl. EPA is misleading because one could buy EPA at GNC and this over-the-counter EPA does not have any proven CVD benefits. The drug that was studied in the 3 studies that you referenced is Icosapent Ethyl (4g of Vascepa in USA & 1.8g of Epadel in Japan), which is a highly purified form of EPA. Vascepa can only be obtained with a prescription in the USA and Epadel is sold over-the-counter in Japan.

And a personal disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Amarin Corporation. I included them in my original email because Vascepa is their product.

Their response was:

Thank you Raf for the commit and explanation. We will make the changes as suggested. As you know, is shared it with Viet as well so will include his comments along with yours and circle back with you all.

Much appreciated.

The final thing that 'I' am trying to change, which is tricky - what the new study did was take the 3 studies (JELIS, REDUCE-IT & RESPECT-EPA), combine all the data and see if Icosapent Ethyl helps with each CV condition. Everything except all cause mortality and stoke was positive. The reason why stroke wasn't (when combined all and taken the average of) is because JELIS had more stroke cases than REDUCE-IT but didn't show any benefit, so it diluted REDUCE-IT's benefit. But per Viet Le, those should not be pooled together (he is explaining the reason). This is a current discussion.

So I'm trying to get the stroke part to change but if it doesn't change, it's a great piece for Icosapent Ethyl -- night and day to what it was 48 hours and and will make Nissen's head hurt.