–Despite positive results in the REVEAL trial anacetrapib is dead. Merck announced on Wednesday that it would not seek regulatory approval for its cholesterol drug anacetrapib. The decision did not surprise most observers, despite the fact that investigators recently reported positive results for the drug in the enormous 30,000+ patient REVEAL trial. The trial was…
REVEAL Revealed: A Slightly Positive CETP Inhibitor Trial
August 29, 2017 by 3 Comments
—After 3 strikes a CETP inhibitor finally scores. BARCELONA — Finally there is a CETP inhibitor that actually confers more benefit than risk: anacetrapib. The benefit emerged from the Randomized EValuation of the Effects of Anacetrapib through Lipid-modification (HPS3/TIMI55-REVEAL) trial which was presented here at the European Society of Cardiology meeting and published simultaneously in…
Merck Reveals Positive Findings For Its CETP Inhibitor
June 27, 2017 by 2 Comments
–Surprising success after 3 previous drugs in the class failed. Merck announced on Tuesday that the REVEAL trial with anacetrapib had met its primary endpoint, significantly reducing the rate of coronary death, MI, and coronary revascularization in high risk patients already taking statins. Full results of REVEAL will be presented on August 29 at the European…
End of the Road for CETP Inhibitors?
May 17, 2017 by 1 Comment
With the publication of the ACCELERATE trial in the New England Journal of Medicine the long train of bad and disappointing news for the once-promising approach of CETP inhibition remains unbroken. More than 12,000 high-risk patients were randomized in ACCELERATE to evacetrapib or placebo. In 2015 the trial was prematurely terminated for futility; the main…
New Company Bets Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars On A Genetic Strategy To Resurrect A CETP Inhibitor
April 20, 2016 by 2 Comments
–But skeptics think CETP inhibitors are a dead end A new company is betting hundreds of millions of dollars that it can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Over the last decade no class of drugs has undergone a reversal of fortune as dramatic as the cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors, the once…
ACCELERATE Puts the Brake on CETP Inhibition
April 3, 2016 by Leave a Comment
–No benefit with evacetrapib despite increase in HDL and decrease in LDL The fat lady hasn’t sung, the referee hasn’t counted up to 10, but it’s sure not looking good for the once highly promising class of drugs known as the CETP inhibitors. Bang the Drum Slowly, and Play the Fife Lowly Following the crash…
Merck Reveals That Its 30,000 Patient CETP Trial Will Continue
November 13, 2015 by 1 Comment
Despite rumors to the contrary the story of the CETP inhibitors isn’t quite over. Merck today announced that the REVEAL trial will continue. After a series of disappointing and often spectacular failures, REVEAL is the last remaining phase 3 trial of a CETP inhibitor still underway. REVEAL is a 30,000 patient trial studying Merck’s anacetrapib. In the announcement Merck said the…
Third Strike For CETP Inhibitors: Lilly Halts Big Evacetrapib Trial
October 12, 2015 by 2 Comments
For the third time a large trial testing a CETP inhibitor drug has gone down the tubes. On Monday morning Eli Lilly announced that it had terminated ACCELERATE, its large phase 3 trial of the drug evacetrapib. The company said the trial was stopped “due to insufficient efficacy” and that the company planned to discontinue…
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