Effective new cholesterol treatments will come at great cost to health care system, says CVS

The new class of cholesterol drugs could provide successful treatment to millions of Americans, but the cost will have a great impact on the healthcare system, says pharmacist and pharma benefits manager CVS Health (NYSE: CVS).

The PCSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9) enzyme inhibitors that are currently in development could provide successful treatment, but at great cost. The authors of the commentary published by CVS cited the real challenge as being the large eligible patient population and duration of chronic treatment, rather than the cost per dose.

Troyen Brennan, chief medical officer at CVS Health, said: "With the launch of Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) to treat hepatitis C in 2013, we saw a first glimpse of the impact of high-priced specialty drugs that serve patient populations in the millions, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Like the hepatitis C treatments, PCSK9 inhibitors represent a significant advance in treating intractable diseases convenient and highly effective with few side effects but they also pose a much more complex financial dilemma since, unlike the hepatitis C treatments which offer a cure in as little as 12 weeks, PCSK9 inhibitors will be prescribed as ongoing maintenance therapy for the duration of patients' lives."