#407 ‒ Preventing cardiovascular and Alzheimer's disease: lowering LDL early, APOE4, and promising new therapies | Michael Davidson, M.D.
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What is the opening introduction and guest background for this episode?
Hey
everyone, welcome to the Drive Podcast. I'm your host, Peter Atia. This podcast, my website, and my weekly newsletter all focus on the goal of translating the science of longevity into something accessible for everyone. Our goal is to provide the best content in health and wellness, and we've established a great team of analysts to make this happen. It is extremely important to me to provide all of this content without relying on paid ads. To do this, our work is made entirely possible by our members, and in return, we offer exclusive member only content and benefits above and beyond what is available for free. If you want to take your knowledge of this space to the next level, It's our goal to ensure members get back much more than the price of the subscription.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of our premium membership, head over to peterateamd.com forward slash subscribe. My guest this week is Michael Davidson. Michael is a cardiologist, lipidologist, and the founding CEO of New Amsterdam Pharma. He is a recognized leader in lipidology, having coordinated more than a thousand clinical trials, published over 350 peer-reviewed papers, and authored three books on lipid disorders and cardiovascular prevention. His work spans statins, novel lipid lowering. therapies, omega-3 fatty acids, and cardiovascular drug development. He also founded several biotech companies and clinical research organizations, including the Chicago Center for Clinical Research, Omthera Pharmaceuticals, and Corvidia Therapeutics.
Michael also previously served as the president of the National Lipid Association. Michael's career has spanned the intersection of lipid science prevention and drug development. And with obacetrapib, he is now at the center of one of the most important open questions in cardiology: whether CTEP inhibition can finally deliver meaningful reductions in LDL, APOB, LP livid. In this episode, we discuss how Michael's family history shaped his career in lipidology and prevention, LDL as a causal driver of atherosclerosis, and why it should be treated more like blood pressure or smoking, the history of CTEP inhibitors, why earlier drugs failed, and what makes obacetropib different, obacetropib's effect on LDL cholesterol, APOB, LDL particle number, LP little A, diabetes.
risk and cardiovascular outcomes, how obacetropib may fit alongside statins, azetomide, PCSK9 inhibitors, and other lipid lowering therapies, the complicated biology of HDL, brain cholesterol metabolism, ApoE4, and the potential role for obacetropib in Alzheimer's prevention, and omega-3 fatty acids, DHA delivery to the brain, AI and clinical trials, and the future of drug development for cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. So without further delay, please enjoy my conversation with Michael Davidson. Michael, thank you so much for coming out. It is hard to believe that this is our first meeting in person given how many years we've worked together electronically and in other ways.
Right. Yes, great to be here, Peter.
For folks who might not be familiar with your work, although we've certainly referenced it a lot on the podcast, your work speaks for itself, so you certainly don't need us referencing it. Maybe tell folks a little bit about yourself, starting with what you do quite.
Clinically? I'm a cardiologist, lipidologist. I run the lipid clinic at University of Chicago. I'm a professor. So I see patients actually four full days a month, and that's a pretty loaded prevention focused practice.
What's the path to that? Because lipidology is not necessarily a sub specialty within cardiology, although of course people who listen to this podcast are very familiar with it and Tom Dayspring has been on a number of times. But what was your path towards that from your training? Were you always interested in prevention? It's a
passion because my father died at age forty seven of a heart attack. I was sixteen. I had abnormal lipids, ran into my family, so got very interested in lipids in medical school.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the opening introduction and guest background for this episode?
0:10–6:59
2
How did Michael Davidson’s family history shape his focus on lipidology and prevention?
6:59–16:52
3
Why does the conversation shift to treating LDL as a causal driver of heart disease rather than a risk estimate?
16:52–40:31
4
What is the history and rationale behind CETP inhibitors and how did early failures lead to obicetrapib?
40:31–1:00:56
5
How will obicetrapib be priced and reimbursed in the United States?
1:00:56–1:13:34
6
What is the impact of the APOE4 genotype on brain cholesterol metabolism and Alzheimer’s risk?
1:13:34–1:26:11
7
Which emerging blood‑based biomarkers (p‑tau 217, p‑tau 181, GFAP, NfL) are most predictive of Alzheimer’s disease progression?
1:26:11–1:39:36
8
How could AI transform the design, cost, and speed of clinical trials for cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases?
1:39:36–1:59:17
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Peter Attia Drive
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