The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved alirocumab, the first of a new class of injected, cholesterol-lowering drugs. Alirocumab cuts levels of LDL cholesterol, and is one of a group of newly developed drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors. The molecule happens to be a monoclonal antibody. Approved indications The drug is only approved for patients with heart disease and a history of heart attack or stroke "who require additional lowering of LDL cholesterol" in addition to taking a statin drug and adopting a healthy diet. Heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH), an inherited illness that causes people to have high levels of LDL in the blood. The video shows how this new class of drugs reduces LDL levels in blood. >
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