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Replies to post #142292 on Biotech Values
08/26/12 9:00 AM
Merck also today provided information about a different method to more accurately measure LDL-C when patients are treated with anacetrapib, an investigational CETP-inhibitor. Based on this method, called beta-quantification, anacetrapib 100 mg daily resulted in LDL-C reductions of approximately 25 to 35 percent, compared to the 40 percent reduction previously reported from the DEFINE study and other anacetrapib studies.
In DEFINE, LDL-C was calculated using the Friedewald equation, which is the method used in most lipid studies. The Friedewald method estimates LDL-C from direct measurements of total cholesterol, HDL-C and triglycerides, but does not measure LDL-C directly. Because CETP-inhibition increases the ratio of triglycerides to cholesterol in LDL and VLDL particles, Merck and the DEFINE Steering Committee hypothesized that methods other than Friedewald might more accurately measure LDL-C when lowered by CETP inhibitors. The researchers believe that these initial results indicate that the beta-quantification method provides a more accurate measure of LDL-C after treatment with anacetrapib. These findings are being finalized and will soon be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal, and additional studies are underway, or planned, to more precisely determine the LDL-C lowering of anacetrapib.
The results of other key lipid measurements such as HDL-C, triglycerides, and apo-lipoproteins, such as A-I and B, are not believed to be affected by this observation.
…Based on the available data, REVEAL investigators are not planning to change the size or duration of REVEAL, the event-driven cardiovascular clinical outcomes trial of anacetrapib.
