What If There Was A Vaccine To Reduce Bad Cholesterol?

Today, if you are rich you can lower your bad cholesterol levels using a monoclonal antibody you inject every other week. It is sold under the name, Repatha. The treatment costs about $10,000 US annually which compared to other monoclonal antibody medicines often costing hundreds of thousands of dollars seems reasonable.

Repatha, also known as Evolocumab, is a biologic. You can almost always tell a medicine is a biologic when the name ends with a “mab.” These medications have, over the last few decades, dramatically altered treatment for many chronic health conditions but at an enormous cost to those without health insurance. The other knock against biologics is the list of contraindications that sometimes seem encyclopedic in length.

We, that is my wife and me, have had our own experiences with the cost associated with getting treatment of this type. My wife suffers from chronic delayed-pressure urticaria (hives). For years this debilitating condition made even putting on clothes difficult. She was eventually treated with Omalizumab, an asthma-treatment biologic sold under the brand name Xolair with every injection costing $750. These treatments went on for three years. If it weren’t for a special program that reduced the cost per month for each injection, we would have found our savings depleted. Today, fortunately, she is in remission. That doesn’t mean the condition won’t come back.

Treating High Cholesterol

Biologics work to enhance our immune system. So how can this type of medicine deal with cholesterol which is produced in our liver? Cholesterol comes in two forms. Bad cholesterol, called low-density lipoprotein (LDL), is the more common kind and causes a build-up of plaque on arterial walls. Good cholesterol, called high-density lipoprotein (HDL), removes bad cholesterol from the blood.

The term plaque associated with bad LDL cholesterol is sometimes confusing to people because it’s used by both cardiologists and dentists. But these plaques are very different. Plaque that dentists clean off teeth builds up from food and drink. Brushing teeth, flossing, and regular visits to the dentist for cleanings removes it. Plaque that forms on arterial walls needs a different kind of cleaning.

For most of us with limited budgets that suffer from higher-than-normal cholesterol readings, the standard of medical treatment is statins. These are pills of various dosages. I take a low-dose Lipitor daily. Other than the lower back and muscle aches which I counter by taking Co-Q10, Lipitor has been pretty easy on me, and based on blood test results is keeping my LDL levels in check.

The way statins are handed out these days we might as well put them in the drinking water in North America considering the number of us suffering from high cholesterol.

Another Way to Control Cholesterol

A protein, encoded by the PCSK9 gene that resides on chromosome 1, has become the target of research into high cholesterol treatment. The PCSK9 protein binds to the surface of hepatocyte cells which represent 80% of our liver’s total volume. LDL receptors can be found on the surface of these cells. The receptor’s function is to rid the body of LDL. But too much PCSK9 protein produced because of gene-messaging errors interferes with the receptors’ function. The aforementioned Repatha inhibits these proteins to make the receptors work better while at the same time increasing the good cholesterol in our blood.

But Repatha is expensive and out of the reach for most lower and middle-income people where high cholesterol is a chronic condition. That’s why statins have yet to be displaced by treating the condition with biologics.

Statins vs. Biologics

Statins are cheap. Biologics like Repatha are expensive. Statins do the job but Repatha works better. So what would be the best of both worlds? How about a PCSK9-targeting medication that provides long-term protection at a fraction of the cost?

That’s where the VXX-401 vaccine comes in. It provides the benefits of a monoclonal antibody but is produced using a cheaper method and, therefore, can be delivered at a much lower cost to the consumer.

Its maker is Vaxxinity, a biotech company based in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Currently, VXX-401 is in phase one clinical trials. The company recently announced preclinical favourable results.

VXX-401 uses the body’s natural immune system to stimulate the production of antibodies to combat PCSK9 and thus make LDL receptors on hepatocytes work more efficiently.

Vaxxinity’s vision is to “democratize health” and “provide cheaper, safer, more convenient, and effective medicines for chronic disease.” So the price of VXX-401 will be as affordable as a statin while being far more effective in dealing with high LDL cholesterol levels.