Esperion presents exploratory analysis of CLEAR Outcomes

Esperion announced the presentation of results from a pre-specified, exploratory analysis of CLEAR Outcomes at the 2023 American Heart Association Scientific Sessions. “We know in 2023 that ‘lower is better’ is true both for cholesterol and for inflammation,” said Paul Ridker, MD, MPH, of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard Medical School and a pioneer in the role of inflammation inhibition as a method going beyond cholesterol to improve patient outcomes. “In the future, it can be anticipated that virtually all atherosclerosis patients will receive aggressive inflammation inhibition along with aggressive cholesterol reduction,” Ridker added. Dr. Ridker presented a pre-specified analysis in an oral presentation titled, “Inflammation and Cholesterol as Predictors of Cardiovascular Events and Risk Reduction with Bempedoic Acid Among Statin Intolerant Patients: An Analysis of the CLEAR Outcomes Trial.” The analysis focused on vascular inflammation, as measured by the inflammatory marker hsCRP as a major determinant of atherosclerotic risk regardless of background statin use. In the exploratory analysis, participants with baseline hsCRP in the top 25% of all participants were 43% more likely to experience MACE, twice as likely to experience cardiovascular death, and 121% more likely to experience all-cause mortality compared to those in the lowest 25%. In CLEAR Outcomes, patients who were randomized to bempedoic acid experienced a 21.6% reduction in hsCRP compared to placebo at 6 months.