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New cholesterol treatment can cut levels by 69% after one dose
BBC Science Focus
|July 2025
The future of heart attack prevention could be a single injection
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A single shot of a new drug can lower cholesterol levels by up to 69 per cent, according to the initial results of a clinical trial that has not yet been peer reviewed.
The treatment, called VERVE-102, could transform the future of heart attack prevention by dramatically lowering the amount of LDL cholesterol – the so-called ‘bad’ cholesterol – with just a single injection.
While statins can lower a person’s cholesterol levels by a similar amount, these generally need to be taken daily.
“This is the future,” Prof Riyaz Patel - an academic cardiologist at University College London and a doctor at Barts Health NHS Trust, which took part in the trial - told BBC Science Focus.
“This is reality; it’s not science fiction. We're actually doing it. I've had patients of mine in the trial receive this one-and-done treatment, and it’s going to change the face of cholesterol management going forward.”
This story is from the July 2025 edition of BBC Science Focus.
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