(Yicai) Aug. 23 -- Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis has been given the green light to sell Leqvio (inclisiran), a novel drug used to lower cholesterol via two doses per year, in China to help people at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

The world' first small interfering RNA therapy to reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also known as ‘bad’ cholesterol, was given marketing approval in China, the Basel-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

The drug was permitted to enter the European market in December 2020 and in the United States a year after that. In China, the novel medicine has been tested at the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone in the southern province of Hainan and given to over 1,000 patients, Novartis added.

Elevated levels of LDL-C for a long time are known to trigger cardiovascular conditions such as atherosclerosis. China has over 400 million people whose blood lipids are not in the normal range and about four-fifths of people who have a high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases have abnormal levels of LDL-C, according to the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases.

Right now, the most common type of drug used to lower cholesterol is statins but it is not very effective among patients with low compliance or tolerance so they need long-term and safe alternatives, said Huo Yong, chief physician of Peking University First Hospital's cardiology department. 

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine