Vaccine may end the daily statins

AUSTRIA: A vaccine that offers hope of an alternative to daily statins is being tested in humans after successful animal trials.

The jab halved levels of cholesterol in the blood of mice fed a diet of fatty foods and reduced blood vessel damage by two-thirds, preliminary tests showed.

Scientists believe the concept of an injection may be appealing to patients who do not want to take a pill every day.

About 7 million people in Britain take statins to lower ‘‘bad’’ cholesterol and bring down the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

However, many patients report side-effects when taking a daily pill and some GPs are sceptical about the concept of giving so many people drugs from which most will not benefit, raising concerns about the ‘‘medicalisation of normality’’.

Austrian scientists hope that an occasional injection could be a promising option.

They have developed a molecule that stimulates the body’s immune system to produce antibodies against an enzyme called PCSK9, which binds to the body’s LDL cholesterol receptors and so reduces the ability to clear cholesterol from the blood.

Anti-cholesterol pills target the enzyme directly to boost the rate at which ‘‘bad’’ cholesterol is cleared and the jab is designed to make the body produce antibodies to do the same thing over the long term.

Gunther Staffler, technology chief at Affiris, the Austrian company that developed the jab, said: ‘‘If these findings translate successfully into humans . . . we could develop a long-lasting therapy that, after the first vaccination, just needs an annual booster.’’

– The Times