A drug historically used as an anti-inflammatory and gout treatment has now been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce inflammation in the cardiovascular system that leads to heart attacks and strokes.
Colchicine (Lodoco) is approved for use by adults with atherosclerosis, a thickening and hardening of the arteries caused by plaque buildup inside blood vessels, the drug’s developer Agepha Pharma, said in a statement. The drug was also approved for adults with multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
The FDA cleared 0.5 milligram once-daily Lodoco pills to be taken alone or in combination with cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins to attack inflammation in the cardiovascular system that leads to atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and strokes. Colchicine was first approved by the FDA more than a decade ago as a gout treatment and is also approved for familial Mediterranean fever, an inflammatory disease that causes acute pain in the abdomen, chest, and joints.
Read more here to see if your patients could benefit from this new treatment?