Eli Lilly nixes development of once-promising drug for cardiovascular disease

The experimental drug, evacetrapib, belongs to a developing class of drugs called cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors.

But so far, the CETP inhibitors haven’t panned out in clinical trials.

“I don’t think that the strategy of CETP inhibition is going to work”, Steven Nissen, who led the study at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, said in a phone interview.

Evacetrapib was supposed to raise levels HDL and lower cardiac events such as strokes and heart attacks. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings or LabCorp (LH) stated on Monday that nationwide availability of a new FDA-agreed diagnostic test for PD-L1 associated with the expanded authorization of Bristol-Myers Squibb Firm’s OPDIVO (nivolumab), for the treatment of patients with before-treated non-small cell lung cancer or NSCLC.

The independent data monitoring committee based its recommendation on data from periodic data reviews, which suggested there was a low probability the study would achieve its primary endpoint based on results to date. The trial wasn’t stopped for safety reasons. Piper Jaffray increased their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. The project was scrapped, though, when it became linked to deaths in the middle of a large $800 million study, according to Reuters.

In addition, Lilly executive vice president and CFO Derica Rice, comments, “This unfortunate outcome for evacetrapib does not change our ability to generate long-term growth”.

This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about Lilly’s product pipeline and about charges relating to the decision to discontinue development of evacetrapib and reflects Lilly’s current beliefs. Merck is counting more heavily on its anacetrapib to become a success, he said. That raises the stakes for its remaining programs. “Merck continues to believe that anacetrapib has the potential to be an important treatment in the management of atherosclerosis”.

The Indianapolis drugmaker is conducting no other late-stage trials of cardiovascular drugs, one of its seven focus areas. Additionally, the recently approved PCSK-9 drugs Praluent ( Sanofi and Regeneron ) and Repatha ( Amgen ) face decreasing competitive pressure from the CETP class; we are increasingly confident in our $12 billion peak sales projections for the PCSK-9 drug class. Morningstar Premium Members gain exclusive access to our full Eli Lilly Report, including fair value estimates, consider buying/selling prices, bull and bear breakdowns, and risk analyses.