Twenty years ago, perhaps the hottest area of drug research was on a class of compounds called Cholesteryl-Ester Transfer Protein inhibitors (CETPi) – drugs that not only lowered LDLc but also dramatically increased HDLc – the so-called good cholesterol which was believed to be cardioprotective. In fact, in early clinical trials, these drugs totally remodeled a heart patient’s lipoprotein profile as they more than doubled HDLc levels while further lowering LDLc by 20% on top of that seen with a statin.
