Cholesterol drug setback casts doubt over multibillion-dollar race
Novartis faces a setback after its cholesterol-lowering drug, pelacarsen, failed to improve cardiovascular outcomes in a late-stage clinical trial. The results have cast doubt on the broader pharmaceutical industry's strategy of targeting Lp(a) to reduce heart attack and stroke risks.
Why it matters
This failure impacts a multibillion-dollar drug development race and forces analysts to re-evaluate the scientific hypothesis regarding Lp(a) as a primary target for cardiovascular health.
Novartis ' failure in a closely watched cardiovascular trial has raised questions about one of the pharmaceutical industry's biggest drug races and rival treatments from U.S. heavyweights Amgen and Eli Lilly .
The pelacarsen drug, developed jointly with Ionis Pharmaceuticals , reduced a particularly harmful form of cholesterol in a late-stage clinical trial, but failed to significantly improve cardiovascular outcomes, Novartis said after the bell on Friday. The stock fell 3% on Monday.
It is the first major clinical setback in the race to develop treatments that lower Lp(a), which elevates cardiovascular risks that are estimated to affect roughly one in five people worldwide and for which there is currently no approved targeted treatment.
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