Building on results from September 2018, Amarin Corp. PLC's omega-3 fatty acid supplement Vascepa showed a reduction in the number of heart attacks in at-risk patients by 30%, based on new data from a clinical trial.

Vascepa, which is derived from fish oil, is a prescription pill for heart disease patients with high levels of triglycerides who are already on statin therapy. Statin therapy controls LDL-cholesterol levels, also known as bad cholesterol, and has demonstrated reduced cardiovascular risks by 25% to 35%.

In the study, called Reduce-It, Vascepa led to about 159 fewer major adverse cardiovascular events per 1,000 patients, Amarin reported. More than 8,000 patients were enrolled in the trial.

The follow-up data determined that patients' risk of both first-time and recurrent cardiovascular events were 30% lower than those that received placebo. "The degree of benefit that this analysis reveals is quite large, especially considering that this is an additional layer of benefit on top of what statin and other therapies have already provided," said Harvard Medical School Professor and Reduce-It principal investigator Deepak Bhatt said in a statement.

The Dublin-based company presented the follow-on results at the American College of Cardiology's conference in New Orleans.

In the 2018 findings, Vascepa reduced the risk by 25%.

Amarin closed a $200 million public offering in November 2018 to support the ongoing commercialization of Vascepa.

The Reduce-It trial cost Amarin approximately $300 million as of September 2018, having begun in 2011 across 450 medical centers in 11 countries.