As patents for statins expire, drug companies are looking at the next blockbusters to raise HDL. The data is still pending on whether raising HDL lowers mortality:
Doctors also know people who have too-high LDL but never succumb to cardiac trouble – perhaps, in some cases, because their high HDL is protecting them.
The interest in HDL cholesterol is also, to some extent, market-driven. Many drug companies have blockbuster statin drugs with patents that are expiring, and they’re searching for ways to reignite the market for treating cardiovascular disease.
In this case, however, market forces and the quest for better heart health may happily align.
