PCSK9 antagonists

1. An antibody that binds to proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), wherein the antibody comprises a heavy chain V-segment and a light chain V-segment, each of which comprises a complementarity determining region 1 (CDR1), a complementarity determining region 2 (CDR2), and a complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3); wherein:

i) the CDR1 of the heavy chain V-segment comprises SEQ ID NO:7;

ii) the CDR2 of the heavy chain V-segment comprises SEQ ID NO:10;

iii) the heavy chain CDR3 comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:12 and SEQ ID NO:13;

iv) the CDR1 of the light chain V-segment comprises SEQ ID NO:21;

v) the CDR2 of the light chain V-segment comprises SEQ ID NO:24; and

vi) the light chain CDR3 comprises SEQ ID NO:26.

2. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the heavy chain variable region has at least 90% amino acid sequence identity to the variable region of SEQ ID NO:40 and the light chain variable region has at least 90% amino acid sequence identity to the variable region of SEQ ID NO:41.

3. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the heavy chain variable region has at least 95% amino acid sequence identity to the variable region of SEQ ID NO:40 and the light chain variable region has at least 95% amino acid sequence identity to the variable region of SEQ ID NO:41.

4. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the antibody comprises a heavy chain comprising SEQ ID NO:40 and a light chain comprising SEQ ID NO:41.

5. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the heavy chain variable region has at least 90% amino acid sequence identity to the variable region selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:4 and the light chain variable region has at least 90% amino acid sequence identity to the variable region selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:16 and SEQ ID NO:18.

6. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the heavy chain variable region has at least 95% amino acid sequence identity to the variable region selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:4 and the light chain variable region has at least 95% amino acid sequence identity to the variable region selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:16 and SEQ ID NO:18.

7. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the heavy chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:4 and the light chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:16 and SEQ ID NO:18.

8. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the antibody is a FAb′ fragment.

9. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the antibody is an IgG.

10. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the antibody is a single chain antibody (scFv).

11. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the antibody comprises human constant regions.

12. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the antibody is linked to a carrier protein.

13. The antibody of claim 1 , wherein the antibody is PEGylated.

14. An antibody that specifically binds PCSK9, wherein the antibody comprises a heavy chain variable region and a light chain variable region, wherein the heavy chain variable region and the light chain variable region each comprise the following three complementarity determining regions (CDRs): CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3; wherein:

i) the CDR1 of the heavy chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:8;

ii) the CDR2 of the heavy chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:11;

iii) the CDR3 of the heavy chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:14;

iv) the CDR1 of the light chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:22;

v) the CDR2 of the light chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:25;

vi) the CDR3 of the light chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:26.

15. An antibody that specifically binds PCSK9, wherein the antibody comprises a heavy chain variable region and a light chain variable region, wherein the heavy chain variable region and the light chain variable region each comprise the following three complementarity determining regions (CDRs): CDR1, CDR2 and CDR3, wherein:

i) the CDR1 of the heavy chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:6 and SEQ ID NO:7;

ii) the CDR2 of the heavy chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:9 and SEQ ID NO:10;

iii) the CDR3 of the heavy chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:12 and SEQ ID NO:13;

iv) the CDR1 of the light chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:20 and SEQ ID NO:21;

v) the CDR2 of the light chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:23 and SEQ ID NO:24;

vi) the CDR3 of the light chain variable region comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:26.

16. A composition comprising an antibody of claim 1 and a physiologically compatible excipient.

17. The composition of claim 16 , wherein the composition further comprises a second agent that reduces low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in an individual.

18. The composition of claim 17 , wherein the second agent is a statin.

19. The composition of claim 18 , wherein the statin is selected from the group consisting of atorvastatin, cerivastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, mevastatin, pitavastatin, pravastatin, rosuvastatin, and simvastatin.

20. The composition of claim 17 , wherein the second agent is selected from the group consisting of fibrates, niacin and analogs thereof, cholesterol absorption inhibitors, bile acid sequestrants, thyroid hormone mimetics, a microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (MTP) inhibitor, a diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) inhibitor, an inhibitory nucleic acid targeting PCSK9 and an inhibitory nucleic acid targeting apoB100.