Ezetimibe Consistently Reduces LDL-C with Little Interindividual Variability in 14,970 Patients Post-ACS

Introduction: Ezetimibe (EZE) added to statin further reduces LDL-C and CV events. Prior studies demonstrated large inter-individual variability in LDL-C reduction with statins. Whether similar variability exists with EZE has not been reported in a large study. Methods: We assessed the placebo (PBO)-adjusted LDL-C reduction from randomization to 4 months in IMPROVE-IT, a double-blind RCT of EZE vs placebo (PBO) added to simvastatin (SIMVA) post-ACS. Inter-individual variation in % LDL-C reduction was calculated via rank-ordered subtraction of PBO/SIMVA from EZE/SIMVA. Patients not on study drug or with missing LDL-C values at either timepoint were excluded. Using the overall distribution of PBO-adjusted LDL-C reductions with EZE, we modelled the % of patients anticipated to achieve guideline-recommended LDL-C targets at 4 months with the addition of EZE across a range of baseline LDL-C values. Results: In 14,970 pts, the median baseline LDL-C in both groups was 80 mg/dL (IQR 65-96). The median change from baseline at 4 months was -37% (IQR -20% to -51%) in the EZE/SIMVA arm and -14% (IQR +7% to -31%) with PBO/SIMVA ( Panel A ). The PBO-adjusted median change in LDL-C at 4 months with EZE/SIM was -23% with low variability (IQR -19 to -27%; Panel A) . Based on this distribution, modelling predicts that fewer than half of patients would achieve the U.S. and European targets of <70 and <55 mg/dL when the baseline LDL-C is >91 mg/dL and >72 mg/dL, respectively, with the addition of EZE to statin therapy ( Panel B ). Conclusions: Addition of EZE to statin therapy results in a consistent median 23% reduction in LDL-C, with 75% of patients achieving at least a 19% reduction. The distribution of LDL-C reduction can be used to estimate how likely a patient will be to achieve guideline LDL-C targets with the addition of EZE to statin therapy.