Amarin Corp Plc (AMRN)

[rosemountbomber]

Pharmacydude had a very good post yesterday highlighting the tough slog it is to get patients on V and to have them stay on V.

We can add others reasons, such ignorance about V as many patients AND docs conflate V with other omega-3 products both prescription and OTC, to his commentary about patients not "feeling" anything, or even not seeing any difference like one would with say a statin that lowers cholesterol.

But I need to add to that, that is not totally the fault of V. Here's what I mean. What do docs usually prescribe for their patients' bloodwork? Typically, I know there are exceptions, they check cholesterol panel, kidney and liver functions, electrolyte levels, thyroid parameters and not much else. So to be fair, most blood work does not check for things that V typically impacts and shows results with.

First and foremost, Triglycerides. V definitely lowers those, without question. Yeah, I know now the medically community has swung to the idea that they don't matter that much wrt CVD. But that is not all, other than it is maybe the only typical marker checked for in most blood work.

How about Apolipoproteins? Well Vascepa has been shown to lower both Apolipoprotein B and Apolipoprotein C-III.
How about markers of oxidation and inflammation? Well Vascepa has been shown to lower ox-LDL, hsCRP, and Lp-PLA2.
I won't bother mentioning that Vascepa raises blood levels of EPA, as most docs and patients are not cognizant of its benefits.

And, there have been publications claiming that hsCRP can be as predictive of heart disease events as cholesterol levels.

So, part of the problem about patients not seeing the benefits of being on Vascepa can be blamed on the right tests not being done for the most part.
Unfortunately the only way to combat that is through education, but that costs money (which Amarin does not currently have along with Generics that would steal 50% of the benefits), and even that would be an uphill battle. For example look at the evidence presented for V, and although everyone is looking at the same evidence, the FDA approves V, says that there is no chance the placebo affected the results to any degree, yet there are a bunch of others (Nissen, et al) who, looking at exactly the same evidence, tout another mantra. They are all looking at the same evidence but somehow the naysayers are stuck in their mindset. Didn't mean to make this this long.