Safety and Efficacy of Colesevelam HCl in the Treatment of Elderly Patients

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Colesevelam significantly lowers cholesterol in patients with hypercholesterolemia, and both cholesterol and hemoglobin A1C (A1C) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The purpose of this post hoc analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety/tolerability of colesevelam in older (≥65 years) and younger (<65 years) adults. METHODS: We conducted post hoc analyses of pooled clinical trial data from seven phase II and III randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, primary hyperlipidemia and T2DM clinical trials. The hyperlipidemia safety/tolerability analysis included seven studies (≥65 years, n = 154; <65 years, n = 381); the efficacy analysis utilized one study with sufficient patients in both age groups for meaningful comparison. The T2DM analyses included four studies (safety/tolerability: ≥65 years, n = 249; <65 years, n = 880) or three studies (efficacy). In the hyperlipidemia studies, patients received colesevelam 1.5–4.5 g/day or placebo, alone or with a statin, for 4 weeks to 6 months. In the T2DM studies, colesevelam 3.75 g/day or placebo was added to existing antidiabetes therapies for 16 or 26 weeks. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), A1C, and adverse events were assessed. RESULTS: In the hyperlipidemia analysis, colesevelam versus placebo produced similar mean reductions from baseline in LDL-C in older (−16.6 vs. +0.5 %) and younger (−13.7 vs. +0.4 %) patients. In the T2DM analysis, older and younger patients had similar reductions from baseline in A1C (treatment difference −0.59 and −0.54 %, respectively; both p < 0.001) and LDL-C (−14.7 and −15.5 %, respectively; both p < 0.001) with colesevelam. In both analyses, adverse event incidence was generally similar between subgroups. In the T2DM analysis, hypoglycemia was slightly more frequent with colesevelam versus placebo in older patients (5.8 vs. 2.3 %); no reports of hypoglycemia were considered serious adverse events. CONCLUSIONS: In primary hyperlipidemia and in T2DM, colesevelam appeared to be generally as safe, well tolerated, and efficacious in patients aged ≥65 years as in those aged <65 years.