Bempedoic Acid: A New Avenue for the Treatment of Dyslipidemia

Uncontrolled dyslipidemia, specifically elevation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, is a major risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease. Currently, statin therapy remains as first-line treatment for reducing both serum cholesterol levels and cardiovascular risk. However, certain patients are unable to achieve desired serum cholesterol levels despite maximally tolerated statin therapy. As a result, several nonstatin therapy avenues have been evaluated for their potential benefits in reducing cholesterol and cardiovascular risk. Bempedoic acid is one such nonstatin therapy option, which has been explored over the past few years to potentially assist patients in further reducing serum cholesterol. Bempedoic acid is a novel prodrug that inhibits cholesterol synthesis upstream of statins by inhibiting adenosine triphosphate-citrate lyase. Bempedoic acid has been studied as a single, once daily 180 mg dose. Administered as monotherapy or in combination with statin or ezetimibe, bempedoic acid significantly reduces low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Furthermore, bempedoic acid was generally well tolerated by patients and rates of adverse events were similar to placebo with few exceptions. Despite proven reductions in cholesterol and favorable safety profile, bempedoic acid will likely remain a third- or fourth-line agent for the treatment of dyslipidemia behind other nonstatin therapies until the improvement of cardiovascular outcomes is demonstrated in future clinical trials.