Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. Climbs As CEO Lauds Merck & Co.'s Zetia Data

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. Climbs As CEO Lauds Merck & Co.'s Zetia Data

November 19, 2014

By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor

The chief executive officer of Esperion Therapeutics told BioSpace Wednesday that Merck ’s recent study showing the effectiveness of Zetia is great news for Esperion’s own experimental cholesterol drug, ETC-1002, news which has helped the recent meteoric rise of Esperion’s own share price.

Esperion Therapeutics has skyrocketed 43.6 percent in the past four weeks, climbed above its 20 Day Simple Moving Average. Shares of the company climbed as high as 9 percent on the Merck news in afternoon trading Monday, but have since corrected by around 1 percent.

Merck released the results of the IMPROVE-IT study for Zetia (ezetimibe) Monday, with data that showed conclusively that the drug lowered the risk of heart attacks and strokes in high-risk heart patients when used with an effective statin.

“We congratulate Merck on these outstanding results,” Tim Mayleben, CEO of Esperion Therapeutics, told BioSpace. “The IMPROVE-IT results confirm the LDL-cholesterol lowering hypothesis and the lifesaving benefits of LDL-cholesterol lowering therapy.”

Mayleben said that Esperion’s initial focus is on the $3 to $4 billion statin intolerant market “but certainly has aspirations” to focus on the broader hypercholesterolemia market.

ETC-1002, Esperion's lead product candidate, is a once-daily small molecule designed to lower LDL-cholesterol levels and avoid common side effects. It is being developed for patients with hypercholesterolemia.

“Recent ESPR phase 2b trials demonstrated ETC-1002 as monotherapy lowered LDL-cholesterol by up to 40 percent; and by almost 50 percent in combination with ezetimibe,” said Mayleben. “We are confident ETC-1002 can play a very important role in cost effectively and conveniently providing LDL-cholesterol lowering to patients with hypercholesterolemia, including those with statin intolerance, a patient population with a very high level of unmet medical need.”

Yaron Werber, who leads the biotech analysis team at Citigroup, said the study reiterated the theory "the lower the cholesterol the better" and lessens regulatory concerns of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shifting towards requiring outcomes trials before approval.

In a Phase 2 trial on top of statins, ETC-1002 lowered cholesterol 22 percent compared to the 13 to 18 percent typically seem with Zetia, and ETC-1002’s metabolic and other benefits further differentiates the drug, said Werber.

“We also see this news positive for the statin intolerant program where `1002 and Zetia reduced LDL cholesterol 48 percent,” he wrote. The Phase 2b data for ETC-1002 and statin are expected in March 2015.

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