STAT+: Biotech says its cholesterol drug shows signs of preventing Alzheimer's

Can a drug that lowers “bad” cholesterol — and also raises the so-called “good cholesterol,” HDL — help to prevent Alzheimer’s?

That’s the implication of an analysis from NewAmsterdam Pharma, a Dutch biotech, that is being presented Wednesday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto.

NewAmsterdam’s drug is a CETP inhibitor, a type of drug to raise HDL that was tested by Pfizer and Merck. Pfizer’s version failed in clinical trials, actually leading to an increase in deaths and a catastrophe for the company’s stock; Merck’s medicine showed a small benefit in clinical trials but the company did not think it was worth developing.

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