Royal Primary Care has become the first in Europe to sign up a patient to an important new study, which offers hope for people with high cholesterol and at risk of heart disease or stroke.
The AZURE-LDL-C study tests a new digestible tablet which is designed to help people lower their ‘bad’ cholesterol, when standard treatments such as statins are not enough.
The trial, sponsored by international pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, is running at approximately 470 centres across 21 countries.
Currently, patients who don’t improve with statins often have to get specialist injections, which can be difficult to access and sometimes intimidating to use.
Dr Adrian Beltrán-Martínez, Royal Primary Care’s Research Lead – and Chief Investigator of this exciting study – told the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR): “If this medicine works and becomes available, it could be life-changing. A simple tablet would be easier for patients to take, cheaper for the NHS and could prevent strokes or heart attacks that change people’s lives forever.”
Cholesterol is important for the human body – but too much of the wrong kind, called low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), slowly blocks the arteries.
High cholesterol doesn’t cause pain or any other warning signs until blood flow to the heart or brain is blocked, leading to a heart attack or stroke.
More than half of UK adults have high cholesterol, and 1 in 4 also have high blood pressure, a combination that greatly increases the risk of heart disease. Lowering LDL-C, even by a small amount, can make a big difference in preventing heart attacks and strokes.
Many people, however, still struggle to reach safe levels with the medicines currently available.
“I see patients every day whose cholesterol stays high even when they’re doing everything right,” said Dr Beltrán-Martínez.
The study is an important step forward in the fight against cardiovascular disease. If the trial is successful, this new treatment could reach the market within 5 years, offering patients an easier and more affordable option to manage cholesterol, potentially improving the lives of at-risk patients and taking financial pressure off the NHS.
As part of Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Primary Care works under a model that joins primary and secondary care together. RPC’s dedicated research team leads the studies and works with patients directly, while the Trust’s central research department takes care of things such as finance, contracts and setting up the studies – allowing the RPC team to focus on their patients.
Tom Spencer, Head of Research at the Trust, said: “We believe our research model offers an agile solution for delivering clinical trials efficiently and we are proud to have achieved the European first patient in this important study.
“Alongside two previous first global patients we achieved within the last two years, the research team are repeatedly showing their ability to set studies up quickly and identify potential patients effectively – ultimately offering innovative treatment options to our patients sooner.”