Lipid Management: The Ins and Outs of Inclisiran

This transcript has been edited for clarity

Christopher V. DeSimone, MD, PhD: Hello. Welcome back to the Mayo Clinic Medscape video series. I'm Christopher DeSimone, electrophysiologist here at Mayo Clinic. Today, we'll be discussing lipid management and inclisiran, specifically.

I'm joined by my colleague Stephen Kopecky, preventive cardiologist and professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic. Welcome, Dr Kopecky.

Stephen Kopecky, MD: Thank you, Dr DeSimone.

A New Kind of PSCK9 Inhibitor

DeSimone: First, can you tell us how inclisiran works?

Kopecky: Yes. Inclisiran is a very interesting drug. It inhibits PCSK9, but not through the way of the original drugs we have. It's a small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecule that actually inhibits the RNA from making the PCSK9.

DeSimone: It's a different mechanism of action.

Kopecky: Right. The end result is very similar.

DeSimone: Now, with the difference in mechanism of action, is there any other effects we see, like any effect on lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]?

Kopecky: Just like we saw with the original PCSK9 inhibitors, there is about a 20% or 25% reduction in Lp(a).

DeSimone: We have an added benefit from this.

Kopecky: Yes, very good.

DeSimone:Now, patients that are on this, does that mean they get to stop their statins?