Nonprofit heart health group the Family Heart Foundation has joined forces with Amgen for a new cholesterol health campaign.
Dubbed “Cholesterol Connect,” this project aims to bring together free at-home lipid screening alongside the Family Heart Care Navigation Center, which can help people understand what their cholesterol levels may mean for their health.
The campaign is being backed by Amgen, maker of PCSK9 inhibitor Repatha, which has FDA approvals for certain patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, and for reducing the risk of adverse cardiovascular events in people with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The drug made $1.63 billion in sales last year, up more than a quarter year-on-year.
An Amgen spokesperson told Fierce Pharma Marketing that the Big Pharma “is supporting this program [Cholesterol Connect] financially,” though did not say that there was any direct connection to Repatha.
The spokesperson added that this is an “extension of our LDL-C testing program that we launched a year ago in the U.S. to make testing for LDL-C or ‘bad cholesterol’ more accessible for thousands of patients, including some who may not have had access otherwise.”
The company added that this “is in effort to meet our bold ambition to halve the number of heart attacks and strokes in the U.S. by 2030.” While the campaign is not directly talking on Repatha, upping screening typically ups missed diagnoses and thus can boost prescriptions for meds, such as Repatha.
The Cholesterol Connect test works as a standard lipid panel that measures total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides. It also includes screening for lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] and is open to the public, the Foundation says in a release.
You can grab that free test online from here: www.cholesterolconnect.org, you need to give your details; you then complete the test and send it back.
The real addition to these tests, which are already available, is that those who have used them can then choose to schedule a session with a Family Heart Care Navigator “to learn about results and talk about conditions is available."
That element is not mandatory but is “encouraged” by the Foundation.
“Making Lp(a) and LDL-Cholesterol screening more easily accessible is vital to help people better understand their risk for heart attack and stroke,” said Paul Burton, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer at Amgen.
“Amgen's collaboration with the Family Heart Foundation aims to empower individuals with resources to help them make informed decisions about their heart health and address cardiovascular disease as a public health crisis.”