Lilly stops development of evacetrapib

Due to a finding of insufficient efficacy, Eli Lilly and Company announced that it will discontinue development of evacetrapib, which was in phase 3 trials for the treatment of high-risk atherosclerosis, according to a company press release.

The phase 3 ACCELERATE study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of evacetrapib in 12,095 patients with high-risk atherosclerosis at 540 sites in 37 countries. The study’s primary outcome measure was time to first occurrence of any CV event.

The trial was stopped after a recommendation by an independent data monitoring committee, which used periodic data reviews that suggested there was low probability of the study achieving its primary endpoint.

“We’re obviously disappointed in this outcome, as we hoped that evacetrapib would offer an advance in treatment for people with high-risk cardiovascular disease,” David Ricks, president of Lilly Bio-Medicines, said in the release. “We’ll be working with investigators to appropriately conclude these trials.”

Disclosure: Ricks is an employee of Eli Lilly and Company.