NICE guidance - Inclisiran for treating primary hypercholesterolaemia or mixed dyslipidaemia
Last edited 10/2021 and last reviewed 07/2022
NICE state (1):
Inclisiran is recommended as an option for treating primary hypercholesterolaemia (heterozygous familial and non-familial) or mixed dyslipidaemia as an adjunct to diet in adults. It is recommended only if:
- there is a history of any of the following cardiovascular events:
- acute coronary syndrome (such as myocardial infarction or unstable angina needing hospitalisation)
- coronary or other arterial revascularisation procedures
- coronary heart disease
- schaemic stroke or
- peripheral arterial disease, and
- low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) concentrations are persistently 2.6 mmol/l or more, despite maximum tolerated lipid-lowering therapy, that is
- maximum tolerated statins with or without other lipid-lowering therapies or,
- other lipid-lowering therapies when statins are not tolerated or are contraindicated, and
- the company provides inclisiran according to the commercial arrangement
Note that there have been concerns raised concerning the NICE technology appraisal for inclisiran (2):
- the Orion-9, Orion-10 and Orion-11 trials that the appraisal was based on had primary outcomes based on the change from baseline in participants' serum concentrations of LDL cholesterol - however LDL cholesterol is a surrogate outcome for cardiovascular disease, and doubts remain over whether improvements in surrogate endpoints are an accurate reflection of patient benefit
- secondary outcomes included an exploratory cardiovascular endpoint -a composite of death, cardiac arrest, non-fatal myocardial infarction, and stroke - however the overall number of events was too low to draw conclusions
- the study authors concluded that "NICE should reconsider its decision until patient relevant outcomes are available, and these, and all cost data, should be released for independent analysis"
Reference:
- NICE (October 6th 2021). Inclisiran for treating primary hypercholesterolaemia or mixed dyslipidaemia.
- Byrne P et al. NICE guidance on inclisiran should be reconsidered. BMJ 2021; 375 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n2462