With all of these considerations in mind, the next question, logically, would be whether pharmacologically inhibiting the activity of CETP would produce a therapeutic protective effect against CHD and CHD events. The first CETP inhibitor to reach Phase 3 testing was torcetrapib (Pfizer), which was used in a comparison of therapy with atorvastatin versus atorvastatin plus torcetrapib in the Investigation of Lipid Level Management to Understand its Impact in Atherosclerotic Events (ILLUMINATE) trial.[16] As shown in the Figure, the initial results with torcetrapib in ILLUMINATE were astonishing. Basically, torcetrapib did everything that could be expected of a dyslipidemia therapy: There was a >70% increase in HDL cholesterol; a close to 25% decrease in LDL cholesterol; and even a small decrease in triglycerides – and these results were sustained over 12 months.
J Clin Lipidol. 2011; 5(6).[16]Barter PJ, Caulfield M, Eriksson M, et al. Effects of Torcetrapib in Patients at High Risk for Coronary Events. N Engl J Med 2007;357:2109-22.
