Dr Jonathan Wright
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Cholesterol: New drug promises to raise HDL levels...but at what cost?
Can you guess what a torcetrapib is?
Maybe the name of a dinosaur? Or perhaps a remote village in the Himalayas?
An odd, tongue-twisting word like that could only be one thing: a new drug. Actually, torcetrapib is the active ingredient name of the drug. And someday, if everything goes as planned, it will have a snappy, easy-to-pronounce brand name. And youll hear about it.
Oh, believe me, youll hear all about it. Because the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is betting hundreds of millions of pounds that torcetrapib is going to be the Next Big Thing. And it probably will be.
But theres a catch.
How bad do they want it?
Torcetrapib has already been shown to raise HDL cholesterol levels. Obviously thats a good thing. Contrary to the stubborn mainstream mindset of the past 15 years, recent research has demonstrated that low LDL is not the key to cholesterol health.
An optimal cholesterol profile requires HDL to be elevated while LDL is reduced. So going to extremes simply to drive down LDL as far as it will possibly go is; A) not healthy, and B) like savagely beating one horse in a two-horse team.
Thats why executives at Pfizer (makers of the LDL-lowering drug Lipitor) are developing a product that will combine Lipitor and torcetrapib. And youve got to admit it looks good on paper: Take a wildly successful drug that lowers LDL and package it with an effective HDL elevating drug and - ka-ching! - back up the money truck!
The hat trick
If Pfizer executives can pull this one off it will be like winning three World Cups in a row. Heres why:
The patent on Lipitor is due to run out in 2010. And as soon as generic Lipitor hits the streets, Lipitor sales will drop dramatically. Thats an unsettling prospect for Pfizer. According to the Times, Lipitor accounts for about half of Pfizers profits.
But the patent on Lipitor could easily be extended because of its new design, bundled with torcetrapib. Then, when the patent on Lipitor/torcetrapib eventually runs out, torcetrapib could possibly go on to have a patent of its own.
By that time most people wont even remember what the heck LDL is because well all be re-educated to an HDL mindset, as Pfizers marketing machine hypes up the advantages of boosting your HDL levels.
And without question, boosting your HDL is a good thing. But is it worth the risk of developing high blood pressure? Thats a fair question because preliminary trials suggest there may be hypertension concerns with higher doses of torcetrapib.
Incredible, isnt it? A drug designed to prevent heart disease may prompt a condition that raises the risk of heart attack and stroke.
I promise this is not an early April Fools joke. On the contrary: Torcetrapib is part of a plan that will probably reap many billions of pounds for Pfizer over the next decade.
Why wait?
The most refreshing feature of the Times report on torcetrapib was a quote from Dr Allen J. Taylor who is a cardiologist at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in the US. Dr. Taylor pointed out that theres already a proven way to dramatically raise HDL: take niacin.
The importance of niacin is well known to HSI members. In previous e-alerts, weve told you how niacin (vitamin B-3) may offer a double bonus by lowering triglycerides while raising HDL. US physician, Dr Jonathan V. Wright has also noted in his Nutrition & Healing email alert that niacin is effective against degenerative arthritis, anxiety, and type 1 diabetes.
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