Pharma

Roughly one in five adults worldwide carries a genetic condition that roughly doubles their lifetime cardiovascular risk. Lipoprotein(a) is invisible to standard cholesterol panels, cannot be lowered by diet or statins, and affects an estimated 1.4 billion people. In 2026, the first cardiovascular outcomes trial of a drug designed to lower Lp(a) directly is expected to read out, potentially reshaping preventive cardiology.

Lipoprotein(a) is a genetically inherited cardiovascular risk factor that affects roughly one in five people worldwide and cannot be meaningfully lowered by statins, diet, or exercise. In 2026, a new class of RNA therapeutics including olpasiran, lepodisiran, pelacarsen, and zerlasiran is delivering 80 to 95 percent reductions and approaching the first ever cardiovascular outcomes data. Here is what the science shows and why cardiologists believe this may be the most important prevention story of the decade.