Combating Heart Disease In Children

Heart disease is by far the world's biggest killer. According to the WHO, 16% of deaths since the year 2000 are the result of heart disease. In 2019, it accounted for 9 million out of the 55 million recorded fatalities. The next biggest killer is strokes which accounted for just over 6 million deaths in that year.

Heart disease and strokes are often caused by high cholesterol, which is why medication that manages cholesterol levels saves lives and makes pharma companies large amounts of money. Our recommended holding, pharma company Amgen, makes a new-generation anti-cholesterol drug called Repatha, which is turning out to be very effective.

Last week the FDA approved Repatha for children over ten years old who suffer from HeFH (a high cholesterol condition prevalent in children). This condition can still occur in children of normal weight and on good diets. There are over 1 million people in America with this condition, yet only 10% are properly diagnosed, according to this Fierce Pharma article.

Amgen has had a disappointing run lately but good things are happening under the hood. Repatha will most likely be one of their leading profit drivers in years to come.