An oral drug lowers lipoprotein(a) across patient groups
In two pooled randomized trials, daily enlicitide lowered lipoprotein(a) across all starting levels, with the largest absolute reduction of 46.8 nanomoles per liter versus placebo.
24 weeks, double-blind, placebo-controlled
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Researchers pooled data from 3,212 adults with or without prior major cardiovascular events in two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. Participants were on stable cholesterol-lowering therapy; 40% were female and 55% had a history of major cardiovascular events. They received 20 milligrams of enlicitide daily or a placebo.
At 24 weeks, enlicitide lowered lipoprotein(a), a fatty particle in the blood, across all starting levels compared with placebo. The largest percentage reductions occurred in participants starting between 13.7 and 150.2 nanomoles per liter. The difference in median changes versus placebo reached a reduction of 46.8 nanomoles per liter in the quarter with the highest starting levels. Reductions occurred across all racial and ethnic groups, with the largest percentage reduction in Asian participants. Enlicitide also lowered low-density lipoprotein cholesterol by more than 60% compared with placebo across all starting lipoprotein(a) levels.
Why it matters
Lipoprotein(a) is a genetically determined and likely causal risk factor for disease caused by fatty buildup in arteries. This makes it a potential target for research on cardiovascular risk as people age.
Caveats
This conference abstract reported blood lipid changes at 24 weeks, not whether cardiovascular events fell. It gave no side-effect data and studied adults already taking stable cholesterol-lowering therapy.
The paper
FASTA University; UT Southwestern Medical Center
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
