Lilly Drug Boosts Good Cholesterol, Appears to Be Safe

Orlando, FL 11/15/11 (StreetBeat) --An experimental heart drug from Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE: LLY) dramatically boosted levels of "good" cholesterol and appeared to be safe, according to data from a clinical trial, providing the latest hope for a class of medicines with a troubled past.

The drug, evacetrapib, increased HDL cholesterol 53.6 percent at the lowest dose, and by a whopping 128.8 percent at the most potent dose in the mid-stage study, according to the data presented at the American Heart Association meeting in Orlando on Tuesday.

It also cut levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol as much as 36 percent when used alone, and as much as 14 percent when taken on top of statins, the widely used pills for lowering cholesterol.

Researchers said evacetrapib showed none of the safety signals found with a similar drug that had been developed by Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) . That drug, torcetrapib, also showed robust increases in HDL, but Pfizer stopped development of the medicine in 2006 after it was found to increase deaths.

"This is highly encouraging data that you've got an agent that has phenomenal effects on lipids and the safety profile looks clean," said Dr. Stephen Nicholls, the study's lead researcher and director of cardiovascular trials at the Cleveland Clinic.

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