New Fish Oil-Based Medication Targeting High Cholesterol Will Compete With Lovaza

A new, specialized fish oil medication from Ireland’s Amarin Corp. has entered Phase 3 clinical trials and could offer some competition for GlaxSmithKline’s fish oil-based pharmaceutical Lovaza. The products, combined with statin therapy, are designed to treat patients with hypertriglyceridemia, a condition characterized by a dangerously high triglyceride level (over 500 mg/dL). Amarin’s product, AMR101, is a pure ethyl ester of eicosapentaenoic acid (ethyl-EPA), a long chain highly unsaturated omega-3 fatty acid, but contains no DHA. Even without a DHA component, the company’s data from 19,000 patients show that AMR101 coupled with a statin reduces coronary events by an additional 19 percent, compared to statins alone. According to the company, the product provides other health benefits, including regulation of glucose metabolism.