Also, don't get too overly excited about the 25% RRR achieved in REDUCE-IT just yet. It is a great acheivement for sure, but too premature to crown Vascepa as the bigest thing since statins. REDUCE-IT followed 5-point MACE, which in addition to the strict 3-point MACE (cardio death, non-fatal stroke and non-fatal myocardial infarction) also includes a couple additional "soft" MACE (coronary revascularization, hospitalization for unstable angina). REDUCE-IT may or may not have elicited statistically significant effects in these strict 3-point MACE. We'll have to wait for the full data (potentially at AHA in November). 

Another tangent on this trial......REDUCE-IT used purified ethyl esters of EPA only. Another ongoing CVOT by Astrazeneca (STRENGTH trial) is using Epanova, which is a purified mix of EPA and DHA in free omega-3 carboxylic acids form. STRENGTH has a similar patient population and is also using 4g/day, both consistent with design of REDUCE-IT. STRENGTH reads out in 2019. Some argue that EPA is more cardioprotective than DHA, so it will be interesting to find out if STRENGTH CVOT succeeds or fails. I think the "strengths" of the STRENGTH trial are a proper patient population and proper dose, so I expect STRENGTH to succeed as well and provide further support to the triglyceride hypothesis. Here's a good background article on the STRENGTH trial.

Assessment of Omega-3 Carboxylic Acids in Statin Treated Patients with High Levels of Triglycerides and Low Levels of High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol: Rationale and Design of the STRENGTH Trial