These new drugs dramatically lower LDL cholesterol, the bad kind, when statins don't.
For now, Praluent (approved by the FDA last July) and Repatha (approved in August) are approved only for people who have:
* Known cardiovascular disease, a history of heart attack or stroke, and for whom statins don't work.
* Patients who have a genetic condition called familial hypercholesterolemia that causes extremely high levels of LDL-C, which is resistant to statins.
Both are injection medicines. Patients must keep syringes in the refrigerator and take them out 30 minutes before injecting so they are room temperature.
Another drawback: The treatment costs about $14,000 a year.