Correspondence: Duncan Emerton, PhD, Datamonitor, Charles House, 108-110 Finchley Road, London NW3 5JJ, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 207 675 7245; E-mail: demerton@datamonitor.com

¹has worked as a senior analyst in the Healthcare Competitive Intelligence team and Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases team. He has extensive experience in a variety of roles within preclinical and clinical drug development, and has worked for several large pharma and biotech companies. His current areas of focus include commercial and R&D issues in the fields of hypertension (systemic and pulmonary), dyslipidaemia, heart failure and cardiac arrhythmias.

Received 19 October 2006; Revised 19 October 2006.

Abstract

In this current analysis of the antidyslipidaemics market, a shift in focus from low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)-targeted therapies to drugs that elevate high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is described. Key reasons for this evolution are several-fold, but mainly focus on significant generic erosion of LDL-C-targeted therapies, particularly the statins, and loss of revenues therein. Additionally, with LDL-C-lowering efficacy unlikely to improve without sacrificing patient safety, elevating HDL-C has emerged as a therapeutic option in the long-running battle against coronary heart disease.