As we have written before, this class of meds has been written off, only to be then revived -- several times, over the last half-decade. Here is the Lilly tidbit, leaving me with no answers -- only more questions (though net-net, I would be surprised if it turned out to be class wide):
. . . .Lilly said it has ended late-stage development of evacetrapib, which was part of a costly study involving 12,095 patients at 540 sites in 37 countries. The therapy was in Phase 3 development — the final stage before a drug can be submitted to the Food and Drug Administration for approval.
The failure to bring the drug to the market reflects a significant setback for Lilly, which saw shares fall more than 10% to $77 in pre-market trading before regaining some ground.
An independent data monitoring committee "suggested there was a low probability the study would achieve its primary endpoint based on results to date," Lilly said in a statement.
The drug, which was supposed to treat people at a high-risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, displayed "insufficient efficacy" the company said.
The company emphasized that the study was not halted because of safety problems. . . .
I am not enough of a chemist to say whether we should expect to see a similar CETP class-wide underperformance in Merck's progam. But I guarantee that several of the generally great chemists at Merck, and Roche are efforting that careful conjecture, right now. Onward -- ever smiling!
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