TAK-475

Squalene synthase inhibitors are believed to have potential advantages over statins, which inhibit 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase. HMG-CoA catalyzes the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonate and thus serves as the primary rate-limiting enzyme in the hepatic biosynthesis of cholesterol. Squalene synthase acts downstream of mevalonate, catalyzing the dimerization of farnesyl-pyrophosphate to squalene. This is the first step in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway that is solely committed to the production of cholesterol, and researchers believe that blockade at this site may avoid the effects associated with decreased formation of isoprenolated intermediates and metabolites in the pathway beyond HMG-CoA reductase.