Novel lipid-regulating drugs

This review describes the major developments in lipid-regulating drugs duri ng the past two years. Most of the novel compounds that have been launched or were in their final stages of development during this period are aimed p rimarily at lowering low-density Lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol. These inclu de bile acid sequestrants, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors and a cholesterol a bsorption inhibitor. In addition, there have been preclinical reports sugge sting the potential usefulness of orally bioavailable inhibitors of cholest erol ester transfer protein in plasma and of acylcoA:cholesterol acyltransf erase in monocyte-macrophages. The recent discovery of the roles of the sca venger receptor class B Type 1 and ATP-binding cassette transporter 1 in hi gh-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol transport may shift the trend of f uture developments away from compounds that lower LDL to those aimed at pro moting HDL turnover.