Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Lapaquistat
Introduction
Overview
Overview
Lapaquistat (TAK-475) is a cholesterol-lowering drug. Unlike statins which inhibit HMG-CoA reductase, lapaquistat metabolites inhibit squalene synthase which is further downstream in the synthesis of cholesterol. It is hoped that side effects can be reduced by not disturbing the mevalonate pathway which is important for other biochemical molecules besides cholesterol. However, there is increasing evidence that statins (which inhibit the mevalonate pathway) may be clinically useful because they affect these other molecules (including protein prenylation) Greenwood et al., 2006. It remains to be seen how effective lapaquistat will be.
On March 28, 2008, Takeda halted further development of lapaquistat.[1]
References
References
Additional Resource
Additional Resource
- Davidson MH (2007). “Squalene synthase inhibition: a novel target for the management of dyslipidemia”. Curr Atheroscler Rep. 9 (1): 78–80. PMID 17169251. Unknown parameter
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]