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Esperion shares crash as safety worries overshadow late-stage success of flagship cholesterol treatment

Last updated: 12:06 02 May 2018 EDT, First published: 07:06 02 May 2018 EDT

cholesterol
Thirteen people on the drug died during the study, whereas there were only two deaths in the placebo arm

Esperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ESPR) reported positive top-line results from a late-stage trial of its flagship cholesterol drug but the stock slumped as investors fretted over mortality rates.

In a large study of 2,230 of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), those receiving Esperion’s bempedoic acid tablet saw their levels of bad cholesterol reduce by 20% more than those in the placebo arm of the trial.

That was over a 12-week period; over the course of a full year, the drug outperformed placebo by 16%, according to the top-line results reported by the company on Wednesday.

The full set of data will be presented at an upcoming conference said Esperion, which will wait on the results from another large, late-stage study later in the year before possibly filing a new drug application with the US Food and Drug Administration in the second quarter of 2019.

“We know from the Phase 2 program that bempedoic acid demonstrates consistent and complementary LDL-cholesterol lowering and hsCRP reductions when added to currently available therapies,” said Christie Ballantyne, chair of Esperion’s phase 3 executive committee.

“These results suggest that bempedoic acid could be an important new oral treatment option for a very broad range of patients.”

But shares crash…

Normally a late-stage success would act as a boon for the share price, but the stock crashed 22.1% to US$54.93 as fatality rates spooked investors.

Just shy of 1% (13) of the patients receiving the treatment died from what Esperion said were causes “unrelated to study treatment”, while only 0.3% (2) of the placebo population died during the trial.

Although the numbers are relatively small, the FDA is known for being cautious when it comes to approving drugs for widespread diseases and illnesses such as high cholesterol and may take issue with the difference.

The market, and Esperion, will be keeping a close eye on the results from the second study which are due in September.

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