The collaboration aims to identify eligible patients across England and treat them using Leqvio through a population health management approach
Novartis tower with surrounding buildings. (Credit: Novartis AG.)
Novartis has teamed up with Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) to widen the access to its cholesterol-lowering medicine Leqvio (inclisiran) for eligible patients across England.
Under the collaboration, the Swiss drugmaker will work with the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative and the Academic Health Science Network, with support from the NHS Digital.
Novartis and NHS will identify treat and monitor eligible people with Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) who have experienced a cardiovascular event, through a population health management approach.
ASCVD is characterised by the accumulation of lipids, primarily the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the arteries.
Leqvio is a small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) therapy intended for the reduction of LDL-C levels by leveraging RNA interference (RNAi) technology.
In April 2020, the drug was approved by the European Commission to treat adults with primary hypercholesterolaemia or mixed dyslipidaemia, as an adjunct to diet.
Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said: “Cardiovascular disease has long been the number one cause of human mortality, and this intractable health issue requires a reimagining of how we treat heart health.
“This pioneering collaboration with the NHS in England has the potential to spur a step-change improvement in cardiovascular health across the UK, and it demonstrates Novartis’ commitment to working with healthcare systems around the world to improve patient outcomes by co-creating novel access solutions for innovative medicines.”
In January 2020, Novartis signed an agreement with the NHS for the accelerated review of Leqvio by the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
The collaboration builds on the positive NICE recommendation for use of Leqvio in treating people with elevated levels of LDL-C and a history of a cardiovascular event.
The NICE recommendation was supported by results from the Novartis ORION clinical research programme, which includes Phase 3 ORION-9, ORION-10 and ORION-11 trials.
The Phase 3 trials evaluated the safety, efficacy and tolerability of Leqvio in lowering LDL-Cholesterol levels, in more than 3,600 participants.