Novartis' Pelacarsen Fails to Deliver in Landmark Clinical Trial

Novartis' experimental cholesterol-lowering drug pelacarsen has failed to demonstrate significant cardiovascular benefits in a late-stage clinical trial, casting doubt on one of the pharmaceutical industry's most closely watched races.

The failure raises questions about the viability of treatments that target lipoprotein(a), or Lp(a), which is estimated to affect roughly one in five people worldwide and carries a high risk of heart attacks and strokes. The market for these treatments was expected to be worth billions of dollars, with Amgen's olpasiran and Eli Lilly's lepodisiran vying for dominance.

Novartis' stock fell 3% on Monday after the trial results were announced, while shares of Amgen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Novartis' partner in the development of pelacarsen, also declined. Analysts say the failure is a setback for the entire Lp(a) hypothesis, but not necessarily a death knell.

While some investors had expected only a moderate benefit from pelacarsen, others had hoped for more significant results. The trial update's impact will be closely watched as other experimental drugs in the same class prepare to report their own results.