28 Jun 2023 • New data from the 83rd Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA 2023) suggests bempedoic acid could prove pivotal in a primary prevention role for people with statin intolerance. The results were presented as a late-breaking poster and simultaneously published in The Journal of the American Medical Association.

• The CLEAR Outcomes trial was a masked, randomized, trial that enrolled 13,970 statin-intolerant patients. It included 4,206 patients with risk factors for heart disease but without a prior heart-related event (primary prevention).
• The primary efficacy endpoint was a composite of cardiovascular death, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI), nonfatal stroke, or coronary revascularization.
• The study showed a 22% reduction in LDL-C with the drug bempedoic acid.
• Treatment for 40 months was associated with a significant risk reduction for the primary endpoint
• This represents a 30% reduction in major heart-related events. A 39% reduction in the risk of death from heart disease was also observed.

"If patients can tolerate a statin then that should be the first choice. We know statins work, and they are now inexpensive. They are likely to give the exact same benefit as we have shown in this study with bempedoic acid, as the two drug classes work by very similar mechanisms. But if patients can't tolerate a statin, then treat them with bempedoic acid" said the study’s lead author Steven E. Nissen MD, Chief Academic Officer, Heart Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic.

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