Accessed on: February 27, 2020. Familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic disorder that causes high LDL cholesterol, affects 1 in 17 people with cardiovascular disease, researchers reported. Researchers at Israel's Hebrew University of Jerusalem and New York's Mount Sinai Medical Center said they slashed the severity of COVID-19 by reducing the ability of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to reproduce in lung tissue. Published on: February 26, 2020. Three years ago, the FDA approved two drugs that lower harmful LDL cholesterol values dramatically — by more than 50%. The drugs, alirocumab (Praluent) and evolocumab (Repatha), belong to a new category of medications known as PCSK9 inhibitors. Image source: Getty Images. Accessed on: February 24, 2020. Its 2020 sales are expected to come in at around $33 million. Esperion announces FDA approval of the Nexlizet (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) tablet, an oral, once-daily, non-statin LDL-cholesterol lowering medicine. The new drug, Repatha (evolocumab), is approved for patients with hereditary forms of high cholesterol and those with cardiovascular disease Published on: February 21, 2020. Posted: Feb 22, 2020 / 07:18 AM EST / Updated: Feb 22, 2020 / 07:18 AM EST (CNN) — The U.S Food and Drug Administration has approved a new cholesterol-lowering medication. Both are given by a self-administered injection once or twice a month. DEAR MAYO CLINIC: I recently had an annual well check with my primary care doctor and was told I have high cholesterol. Esperion. A new study demonstrated how a common, FDA-approved drug could halt lung damage caused by the coronavirus. Edited by André Sofair, MD, MPH. The FDA has approved bempedoic acid (marketed as Nexletol) to help lower LDL cholesterol in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or established atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease for … By Amy Orciari Herman. FDA Approves New Cholesterol-Lowering Drug. Inherited high cholesterol may be common in people with heart disease . May 29, 2020.