GP leaders warn over the rollout of cholesterol lowering inclisiran in primary care

The BMA and the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) say they have “serious concerns” about the rollout of the new cholesterol lowering drug inclisiran in primary care in England.1

In September, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended the treatment, calling it “a potential game changer in preventing thousands of people from dying prematurely from heart attacks and strokes.”23 The health and social care secretary Sajid Javid called it a “ground breaking” new drug. NHS England said that nurses will be able to administer inclisiran as an injection in GP surgeries across England.

Inclisiran is a novel treatment which uses RNA interference to boost the liver’s ability to remove low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol from the blood. It is given by injection at zero, three, and six months and then twice a year for life.

In England it is recommended in patients who have a history of cardiovascular events and …